Rules of the Games
by O'Donoghue
Summary: When given a nudge in the right direction, Ranma begins to understand some of Akane's behaviour.
1. Level 1, Beginner

Ranma 1/2 - Rules of the games: Level 1 Beginner

Disclaimer: These characters are not mine. They belong to the wonderful Rumiko Takahashi and her licensees (Viz Communications in North America). This work is strictly for the non-profit enjoyment of fans. No copyright infringement is intended.

'Rules of the Games' is based upon a story idea by Tom Wrensch (because my ideas are all crap compared to his).  
Last Updated: 14/1/02

Ranma-chan rolled her shoulder back as she entered the change room. It might be an accepted part of life that morning sparring included a dunking in the pond, but the rocks along the sides were all too hard if you didn't land cleanly into the water.

Yanking her singlet over her head, she stepped up to the mirror and used it to examine the bruise growing on the back of her shoulder. She blinked twice as the reflection reminded her of some television commercial where a pretty girl looked back over her bare shoulder.

Shaking herself out of it, she reached over to the sink faucet she turned on the hot water and splashed himself, then again returned to examining the bruise. He hated looking like a girl like that. Grumbling at the bruise as if it were a way to lessen the pain, he yanked open the door to the furo while undoing the drawstring on his pants and shoving them down.

His hands stopped when his brain did, at the site of Akane drying herself with a white fluffy towel. By some kind of luck she had been holding the towel to preserve her modesty as she dried off, but it was still a sight his eyes didn't seem capable of looking away from.

Seeing Akane's face turning purple with anger, he managed a glance to the floor beside the door to see that, yes, her slippers were out marking that she was within.

"Ah, ah, oops? Sorry Akane."

"You pervert!"

-Slam-

-Crash-

-Bang-

* * *

Ranma leapt to the fence railing as he walked with his fiancee to school. By the absolute silence from her since before breakfast, he guessed that she was still seemed peeved at him for that 'honest to Kami' accident of him walking in on her in the bath... again.

'It wasn't like he wanted to look at the tomboy...' he thought as he had many times before, but again it sounded hollow to him. Was he becoming as perverted as she always accused him?

Over a year of this kind of stuff had taught him that she would calm down eventually, though apologising did seem to make her angrier again by reminding her of the incident. Finally he decided to try and distract her with conversation. Tragically, he could only think of one thing, and it was far from a safe subject.

"Hey Akane, I think I heard Mom and Kasumi talking about trying to teach you ta cook again tonight?"

Akane's brown eyes looked up on him, boring into his face. "Just what are you trying to say, Ranma? They're just teaching me a new recipe, I would have thought you would want more than just my curry?"

Ranma's brain was trying in vain to stop it but the mouth had opened and the tongue was working. "It's not like I..."

Ranma's mouth was cut off from an analogy of a certain fiancee's cooking to 'chemical weaponry', by the sudden appearance of a strong, well proportioned, and above all very friendly, purple haired Amazon. Shampoo was instantly moulded around Ranma, cutting off his air supply with a crushing hug.

"Good morning, Airen!" was shouted into his ear as Ranma finally caught back up with the situation with what he had come to consider as the 'Amazon Stealth Attack'.

In the wake of the failed wedding, Ranma had tried acting very coolly to both Shampoo and Ukyo. It was one thing to interrupt the proceedings, but he was far from happy about the bombs. Initially he refused to talk to her and would dodge her any time he heard the stupid bell on her bike. This had lasted all of two days till she caught on and didn't ring the bell, nor give any other hints of her presence till she was latched onto him.

"Shampoo, get offa me dammit." He cried before he and Shampoo were struck with Shampoo's own bike. Ranma looked up from the ground, to see Akane looking angrily at him. There was a black tyre mark on her dress near her hip, and he could guess it was from the bike's first impact into this situation. "Ah, Akane, I..."

"Ranma, if you want to play around with your mistresses, go play. But I'm not going to be late to class because of it!"

Turning, she started stomping away towards school.

Ranma was on his feet in a second, thankfully free of the Amazonian love grip, and running after her. "She ain't my mistress, I don't got no mistresses. And your one to talk with all the guys you've been string'n along since I got here."

Ranma almost missed it, but Akane's eyes seemed to be steaming at his denials, until he insulted her back, then they brightened up dramatically. Any consideration of this was quickly thwarted as she swung her book bag at him, in a surprisingly strait forward and slow move.

"You're one to talk, jerk!"

Before Ranma could reply, Akane's hand covered his mouth, her eyes looking back at Shampoo, a smug smile appearing on her face. He managed to tear his eyes from her smile to glance back at the Amazon, seeing the purple haired girl riding the opposite way from them. 'Course she is, she never hangs around while we fight.' He thought. 'Wait a minute, did Akane just fake that fight to get rid of Shampoo?'

"Come on idiot, I don't want to be late." Akane's voice said lightly, a small fond smile on her lips.

Ranma looked back at Akane as she grabbed his arm and yanked him onwards to school. He was still trying to work out what had happened with Shampoo and more disturbingly, why when she called him idiot in that soft, near affectionate tone, he just couldn't insult her back.

* * *

"Hiroshi!" cried the tiny Miss Hinako. "Just what do you find so funny?"

Hiroshi's postured slammed upright and he shut the folder on his desk far too hard, his attention redirected to the childlike teacher of the class. "Nothing, Ms Hinako." he cried hoping she would leave him alone.

The little girls face grinned darkly and she began to approach his desk intent on whatever it was he had been giggling at. With the way he'd been giggling she knew it just had to be comics!

Her head swung suddenly up as she sensed a battle aura.

Her eyes landed on Ranma Saotome, who sat neatly in his desk beside Hiroshi's, attempting to suppress the grin on his face. His pigtail was coming to rest on his back as if moved by an unseen and unfelt wind. He was so quiet it was obvious he was containing his battle aura now, and she correctly guessed that he had obviously given off the spark of battle aura a moment before. But why?

Turning her attention back to Hiroshi, she reached onto his desk and grabbed the folder.

Hiroshi knew he was a dead man in twenty seconds, not from Ms Hinako, but from the girls in the class, lead by Akane Tendo, when they found what was in his folder. He winced as she opened the folder... and then looked bug eyed at the empty interior.

Ms Hinako might have been in child form but she was an experienced teacher who knew with one glance at Hiroshi's surprised face that he was just as amazed at its lack of content. She eyed the smug Ranma for a moment, knowing he was behind this. He'd slip up soon, and she'd be right there to drain him when he did. "Hiroshi, pay attention in class."

"Yes Ms Hinako!" He said quickly as he took back his folder. He glanced to Ranma just long enough to catch his wink and the smile blooming on the martial artists face.

Ranma was still pretty hyped on how fast his 'Chestnut Fist' technique could let him go now. Snatching the contents of the folder in full view of everyone, but too fast to be seen. Well, almost everyone missed it, he could tell Hinako had sensed him, and maybe Akane too by that not quiet glare she was looking at him with. Still... damn, he was good.

As the class settled back down to Hinako's droning on about English pronunciation, he idly opened his own folder to look at what exactly was on the bundle of loose pages he had saved from Ms Hinako. He shook his head and let the various pages flick through his fingers quickly, not really wanting to look at the various manga style drawings and even colour photo's of girls in less than full attire, interspersed with various pages of written jokes and stories. It wasn't that he didn't like girls like that, oh no, he was more of a red blooded man than anyone else in this class, hell, this whole school. It was just if he looked at images like this for too long they would quickly become uncute tomboys with short black hair and pink pouting lips and... And he had no idea how to deal with that issue in his life.

His mind swirled on the subject of Akane Tendo, and the complex...'thing' between them that he could only, reluctantly, call a relationship. There was no use trying to deny he did want... something more there, but he wasn't sure what. He certainly didn't want to have a wife, that was just scary, but he didn't want her out of his life either. If only they could get along better.

It wasn't like it was all his fault that had stopped anything like that so far, but he was to blame for much of it. Sure, any time he tried to get along with her, someone would burst in and interrupt, but if they didn't he'd blow it somehow. It wasn't like they gave an instruction or rule booklet on how to deal with girls, or in this case, tomboys.

His fingers stopped and held the pages as his eyes caught the title of one page that held his attention. His fingers slipped that page out to looked at it.

THE RULES.

'Rules for what?' Ranma mused.

1. The FEMALE always makes THE RULES, THE RULES are subject to change without prior notice.

'Huh? What's that mean?' For some reason, his mind flicked through memories of odd behaviour of Akane towards him, and that of his Mother to his Father.

2. NO MALE can possibly know all THE RULES.

His mind flashed with a memory of his father saying, 'No man can possibly fully understand a woman'. He couldn't even place when the old man had said it, but it rang true here.

3. If the FEMALE suspects the MALE is getting to know THE RULES, she must immediately change some or all of THE RULES.

'This don't make sense? Why would the female want to change the rules?... unless they gotta? Could this be why I don't get along with Akane? Nah, this is just a joke? Right?'

4. The FEMALE is never ever wrong.

Ranma smirked at that, visualising a nodding Akane.

5. If the FEMALE is wrong, it is due to a misunderstanding, which is a direct result of something the MALE said or did wrong. The MALE must apologise immediately for causing such misunderstanding.

Ranma's smirk fell a little as he read that, it was a little to close to the mark of his memories.

6. The MALE must never change his mind without the express written consent of the FEMALE.

'Huh?'

7. The FEMALE has every right to be upset and or angry at any time.

Sudden flashes of Akane angry flashed through his mind. He wasn't sure what was more unnerving, that there was so many memories, or that the line had it so right for her.

8. The MALE must remain calm at all times, unless the FEMALE wants him to be angry and or upset. The FEMALE must, under no circumstances, let the MALE know whether or not she wants him to be angry and or upset.

'How the hell am I supposed to know if she can't tell me then?'

9. The MALE is expected to mind-read at all times

'Oh.'

10. The MALE who does not abide by THE RULES can't take the heat, lacks backbone and is a wimp.

'I ain't no wimp!'

11. Any attempt by a male to document THE RULES is likely to suffer serious bodily harm.

'How many rules are there?'

12. A MALE must be ready to perform at all times, a FEMALE is ready when she is ready.

Ranma's mind flicked through memories of the Romeo and Juliet fiasco from over a year ago. 'I gotta act again? For her?'

13. If a FEMALE has PMS all THE RULES have a narrower tolerance and are subject to triple demerit points.

'PMS? What's that? And why do I get punished for it?'

Seeing there were no more rules here, Ranma placed the piece of paper back in the pile and closed his book around it, but the words from the page reverberated in his mind for the rest of the day.

* * *

"Hey Akane?"

"Hmmm?" she replied as she turned in the school corridor. Moving through the crowd of students leaving with the end of day, Akane made out Sayuri and Yuka approaching.

"A few of the girls are meeting at a tea house up near my place to chat, wanna come with?" Yuka said giving a hopeful smile.

Akane managed to hold her smile despite knowing the last time she had agreed to one of these get togethers she had been blasted from all sides with questions about Ranma and how things were between them... in private. She had managed to dodge these invitations twice since then but her friends were getting more persistent. "Oh, who else will be there?"

"We will!" chorused three girls' voices from behind Akane, surprising her and moving in to close the semicircle trap around her, herding her against the wall. Looking away from the five friends' faces boring into her she saw Ranma and one of his friends, Diasuki, looking curiously at her predicament.

"Oh dear, I'd love to but..."

"But?" said Yuka.

"Yeah, I gotta get home and..."

"And?" said Sayuri

Her eyes flicked over them again at Ranma, "I..."

Yuka looked over her shoulder and saw Ranma standing there. "Hey Ranma, does Akane have to rush home to do anything tonight?"

Ranma's mind first tried to figure out if indeed there was, but it was slow going with it being distracted by the fact that with the five girls looking at him, Akane gave an odd glare at him, like she wanted a specific answer from him, but he really didn't know what. Regardless of her intent, it was washed away as he paled, recalling that she was supposed to be learning how to cook again tonight, which meant he was going to bed with a stomach ache... unless she didn't cook...

"Nope, no reason at all, nothing, nadah. Go on Akane, I'll tell Mom and Kasumi you'll be late. Have fun!"

Akane was just as confused by Ranma turning pale then green then rambling on like an idiot that she had no reason not to go, before his words and actions reminded her of those he used when he was trying to fake the fathers into believing he didn't actually like her cooking. She suppressed a smile and then yelled back at him, barging through the girls to grab his arm, twisting it back painfully and locking him into standing beside her.

"You jerk! I haven't even gotten home to start cooking yet and you're insulting it!" Calming herself, she turned back to the girls, "Sorry, I forgot, I promised to be home early to learn a new receipt from Aunty. Maybe next time?"

Before they could reply, she began dragging Ranma out, scolding him till he began to insult her back.

The girls and Daisuki looked after the retreating pair with disappointed looks. "I don't know how they got that act down so well, but if they keep covering for each other like that, even Kuno is going to pick up on it, let alone Ukyo or Shampoo." Yuka said to the nodding agreement at all.

* * *

Turning out of sight of the school, Akane released Ranma's arm, which stopped Ranma mid insult. His insult stayed in his mouth as she gave him a frown.

"You took your sweet time helping me back there. Or did you just take all that time to figure out a decent excuse?"

"Huh?" came the intelligible reply as Ranma flexed his arm to get the blood flow back. They had just been arguing again, hadn't they?

Akane eyed him suspiciously to see if he was smugly mocking her again. "You are unbelievable, you know that? You think I'm going to believe you didn't see I was in trouble?"

Ranma looked around to see what Akane was in danger from, before realising she was talking about the girls back at school. "Ya mean the girls?"

"Of course I mean the girls, idiot! Why do you think I was signalling you?" Akane through her arms into the air and 'humphted'. Turning, she began walking up the road towards home again.

Ranma was about to ask what signal, but was cut off by the appearance of Tatewaki Kuno, Furinkan High's resident idiot, charging forward towards Akane with a paper ward of some kind in each hand. "Yes, my fierce tigress, fight the foul sorcerer's magic hold over you! Harden your might, and with these wards over your heart you will be finally able to break free, so that you may date with me, as we both know you truly wish!"

Akane managed to follow Kuno's words the whole way through as she set herself to hit him hard, right in the chest. Ranma though, had gotten lost earlier in his speech, right after Kuno had declared where he was going to put one of those wards with his hands...

Ranma shot forward to be even with Akane and lashed out a simple kick. The unarmed Kendoist did nothing to stop the blow, too intent on Akane to really consider it. The kick lifted him a few inches off the ground and stopped all his forward momentum.

Akane grimaced, stepping in to try and salvage her punch, which was set for a target much closer to her. As it was it slammed his chest with less force than she hoped for, and he only just cleared a fence before they lost sight of him.

"Hey, why did you have to interfere? I would have got him easy." Akane cried angrily at Ranma who looked dumbfounded.

"Huh? You might 'ave been able to clock him, but not until after he had felt ya up!" He accused. "Or is that what you wanted?"

"You JERK! I would have blocked him easy, you of all people should know I'd never want him touching me!" Akane glared at Ranma, turned, and stomping up the road towards home.

Ranma's anger cooled quickly as Akane turned from him, and he began walking behind her. He didn't like making her angry like that but it seemed he did it all too often.

Finally after several minutes, he sped up and leapt to the fence, quickly coming to an even pace with the still fuming girl. Maybe if he got her talking, it would get her to calm down. He recalled something from that dumb joke sheet he'd read earlier...

"Hey Akane? Do you know what PMS is?"

Ranma froze. Akane often glared at him, but this may have been the most vicious glare since the aftermath of the bathroom incident on the day they had met. He really wished he knew what he just did wrong. The glare faded slightly under the weight of pure fury at his insinuation and the mallet appeared and tracked him.

"I'll give you PMS, you JERK!"

Ranma dodged the first blow, which shattered concrete within five feet of where he had been standing.

"I don't want it!" he cried, backing away from the furious fiancee.

The two angry eyes boring at him from Akane's furiously red face told him that he was in real trouble. Without any other choice, he obeyed his training when faced with an opponent he couldn't take on just at that moment. The Saotome Secret Technique, i.e.: run away till you think of a better plan.

Akane watched as Ranma bolted down the street away from her. 'No way in hell was he getting away that easy after that comment!' she thought as she gave chase to the fleeing boy.

* * *

Nodoka Saotome smiled gently as she gave her future daughter in law another tip on cooking this dish, distracting her and giving Kasumi enough time to scoop out the excess tablespoon worth of herbs that had been dumped in the stewing pot.

Nodoka's smile was genuine, though it had been forced earlier, when Akane had stormed furiously into the house looking for her fiance. She had terrorised her father and Nodoka's husband, who had been very nearly ready to beg for forgiveness for not knowing where the boy was.

When she asked Akane if anything was wrong she calmed down a lot, snapping out that her son 'has no idea when to shut his big mouth'.

When they joined Kasumi in the kitchen and had started cooking she had had little hope for improvement on previous attempts, as a plate of hideous looking stir-fry took shape, including at least a dash of blue that she had failed to stop Akane from adding from the disinfectant fluid under the sink.

She wasn't sure why but Akane had smiled when she garnished the material on the plastic plate, but then had relented that it wasn't her best work and tried again. She began again with a contented smile, but refused to let them throw out the offensive concoction.

As Akane placed the pot into the oven, she excused herself and let Kasumi to watch over Akane as she went in search of her son. She suspected he had been hiding from his fiance, an act she didn't consider very manly, but she blamed such bad habits on her husband as a bad role model for him

Stepping into the Dojo, she saw he was in here practicing. Shadow fighting apparently, leaping, dodging, and weaving against an unseen opponent. She just watched him for several moments, a sense of pride in knowing that her son was indeed nearly a man, and that her sacrifice had allowed Genma to do as he said he would, make him a great martial artist.

Her smile widened, as Ranma's routine became excessive and obviously showy, having spotted that he had an audience. Genma might have made him great, but he had left many flaws in doing so... but that was something the she and Akane would deal with.

Ranma stopped his work out and bowed to the shrine at the end of the Dojo as he had no true opponent to honour such. Stepping over to the wall near the door he picked up a towel and padded some sweat off his face. "Hey Mom, what's up?"

"Hello my Son," Nodoka started fairly formally, still unsure how to be more familiar with her own flesh and blood, their reunion relatively recent.

Ranma stiffened slightly, not because of her more formal words, but because he had a feeling that he was about to get a lecture. "How's Akane's cooking going? She gonna make something edible tonight?" he tried to head her off with.

"Akane is just finishing up cooking now, and she has worked very hard on it." She said with a look that told him he was going to eat it and at least say he liked it. Her tone changed up a little as she eyed him. "Do you have any idea as to why Akane was so upset when she got home from school today? She seemed to imply it was something someone close to her might have said..."

Ranma straightened himself up, "Yeah, I do. But I ain't taking the blame for this one, she overreacted when I asked her a simple question. I don't know what she was so angry over but it ain't my fault."

Nodoka raised one eyebrow at her son's words, not expecting him to be so firm over this. "Firstly, it 'isn't or wasn't your fault'. But that aside, may I ask what this question was?"

Ranma calmed a little, in part from being corrected by his Mother, and in part surprised that he was being listened to over a fight between himself and his fiancee. "Sure Mom, I was reading this thing at school and it said somethin' about women having 'PMS' or somethi...?"

Nodoka's scowl cut him off, though part of his mind wondered at what the hell these three letters were that could make women upset so easily. "Ranma, PMS is a myth made up by lesser men, nothing more. A true man among men would never bring it up again."

Ranma froze as his mother brought out the big gun, that she still had control of the promise his father had made them make, that if he was not returned to her as a man among men, they would commit sepuku. "Ah, okay Mom... Ah, if dinners nearly done, I better go clean up first." He said and quickly left.

* * *

Akane smiled as she brought out her bowl of Saotome Six Spice Special Casserole, placing it on the table. She managed to keep her smile at the fearful looks of the fathers towards her masterpiece. Ranma was looking like he was psyching himself up for a major fight, his gaze on the pot like it was his most dangerous adversary since Saffron.

Akane smiled as Kasumi and Nodoka began serving the fathers without hesitation, though the fathers looked far from keen. Ducking back into the kitchen, she was back quickly with the original stir-fry attempt on it's plastic plate.

Ranma accepted a plate of casserole from his mother, ready to wolf it down and hope his intestines could handle it, but when he brought it back to put it in front of his place at the table, there was another plate... and he couldn't help get the feeling the blue and green concoction was looking back at him with equal suspicion.

"There you go Ranma, that ones specially for you." Akane said with a cheery smile.

Nodoka's eyes widened with fear at the appearance of the horrid plate Akane had made earlier, sitting in front of her son. Her fear deepened as Ranma steeled himself and began trying to wolf it on down.

Ranma felt the pain in his chest and stomach blooming and had just enough time to look up and see Akane's fearful face before he fell backwards from the table.

* * *

Ranma was near unconscious with pain when the door to the guest room opened and Akane slipped inside. Kneeling beside his futon, she gently wiped some stray hairs from his forehead and looked at his greenish complexion.

"Well I hope you found it funny," she whispered in a fond, if exasperated, tone. "I didn't think it was very funny when you ate from the danger plate last time either. Why didn't you try to get rid of it? If you keep being an idiot like this, Daddy and your parents are going to work out you like my proper co..."

Akane was cut off as the guest room door slid open and Nodoka began to enter carrying a damp cloth. "Oh, Akane dear, I didn't know you were in here?"

Akane managed to suppress a blush at being caught like this, standing quickly. "Oh, I was just leaving after telling Ranma that no one thinks his acting is funny. I think I better go have my bath." She quickly stepped out of the room.

Nodoka watched her go before closing the door and knelling beside her son where Akane had been. Gently laying the damp cloth over his brow, she whispered to him. "I'm sorry my son, I swear I'll teach your fiancee how to cook soon. She is getting better already."

Ranma simply groaned and slipped fully into unconsciousness.

* * *

Ranma stumbled into the change room, intent on having a nice relaxing soak before school.

Fortunately his father wasn't quite sadistic enough to have him spar or train on any morning after he had eaten his fiancee's cooking, though that may have been because he force fed the older man left overs from the first few times that happened.

He removed his shirt and pants, dumping them on the floor as he went. Yanking the door open he stumbled within.

Once again, his mind locked up at the sight of a lot of Akane, sitting on a wash stool wearing what amounted to a soap sudd bikini. What little he couldn't see, his mind helpfully filled in the details from memory.

His instinct told him that the longer things stayed like this the more pain he would be in and he began to back out of the bathroom. His foot slid on the wet tiles as he stepped back, Ranma landing on his back side with an 'oof', his eyes still locked on his fiancee, even as his body continued to back up out of the door.

Akane still hadn't moved from the stool, blushing brightly, her expression embarrassed, her eyes on the floor. Just as he lost sight of her through the door he saw a tiny smile that had appeared after he had fallen over.

Ranma yanked the door closed to make sure there hadn't been any sign and checked the floor for Akane's slippers. This wasn't his fault, she should 'ave had the sign out! He was about to yell that out when the door was yanked open this time by a still red faced Akane, now wearing a robe, one bar of her readied nunchaku held under her left arm pulled taunt by her left hand.

Looking up towards the ceiling she cried out loud, "Ranma you PERVERT! Peeping on me again!"

Ranma was still stuck on what to do when Akane kicked his hip, the blow propelling him to the door out of the change room.

"Come back here you jerk!" she cried again, charging with the nunchaku lashing out.

Ranma's mind may not have known what in the hell was going on here, but his body knew the rules of this game.

He ran.

* * *

Ranma glanced down suspiciously at Akane and Yuka as they walked ahead on the footpath towards school. Akane was smiling and laughing with her friend, making today's almost surreal morning even scarier.

He'd walked in on his fiancee in the bath. Again.

He had that part of the memory down in vivid detail. Then she had attacked him angrily. Her technique was overall better than usual, starting off with the nunchaku awkwardly but quickly getting better as they did laps of the house with her screaming at him being a pervert.

Finally Kasumi called for breakfast and Akane simply gave him the cold shoulder all through that. He didn't know who looked sadder, himself, or the fathers at the apparent anger from Akane. On the bright side his mother seemed happy. Probably figured he had peeped on Akane on purpose.

Akane still hadn't spoken a word till they walked a bit down the road from the house. Then she immediately brightened up as if nothing happened... she even had asked him about their homework? She had done this before he recalled, but this seemed so much more unusual than those times before with what he figured where just his fiancee's mood swings.

But the single thing that really got to him, was just before they ran into Yuka on the way to school.

"How was I with the nunchaku?" He could clearly hear her voice again in his head. She had only just given up her anger at him during which she had tried to kill him with those nunchakus and she wanted to know if she was using them right?

'For that matter why the hell had she had nunchakus in the furo?', he thought. 'They'd rust wouldn't they?'

Passing through the high school gates, Ranma looked up at a figure leaping from the trees at Akane, a war cry on his lips. In one hand the figure held several paper wards and in the other a bouquet of red roses.

Ranma shook his head at the sight of the flying Kuno, taking a step to intercept him. He stopped after a single step recalling Akane's anger at him yesterday, claiming she was able to handle Kuno. He glanced at Akane to see if she was setting herself to hit him and realised she was still talking to Yuka. Could she have not noticed him?

Like watching in slow motion, he saw Kuno falling closer and closer to his fiancee who still hadn't reacted. He felt panic rising up when her eyes flicked to him, a similar fear in her eyes shooting into him.

"MOUKO TAKABISHA!"

He hadn't realised he had called it till after the ball of emotionally charged chi soared inches over Akane and Yuka's heads, collecting the flying Kuno and carrying him away.

Akane swung around looking surprised. "You jerk! Keep your fights away from people who don't want to be involved!"

Akane swung around and began storming into the school, dragging Yuka by the arm.

Ranma's head fell at being berated by his fiancee. He hated times like this where he wasn't sure what she wanted or what to do about it.

He glanced up just in time to see Akane and Yuka entering the building. He was about to look down again when he saw her look back...

'Did she just wink at me?' he thought.

Damn she was confusing.

* * *

One thing good about school on Saturday, was it was only a half-day, the school closing at lunch. The ringing of the bell had the students more than eager to get out of school and enjoy the rest of the sunny Saturday.

"Ranma Honey?"

Turning, Ranma and Akane saw Ukyo Kuonji approaching.

"Hey Ucchan, what's up?"

"You want to come by the restaurant? I'll make you a special or two."

Ranma smiled widely then turned to Akane to see if she wanted to come, but she was still walking ignoring them. "Hey Akane, want to come to Ucchan's?"

Akane turned to look at Ranma and his oldest friend, a dark smile coming to her lips seeing Ukyo obviously wasn't happy her invite was getting extended.

"Tempting... but I feel like relaxing rather than being blown up!" With that she turned around and stomped off.

Ranma turned back sheepishly to his friend, partially embarrassed by Akane's words.

Ukyo stepped beside him and placed a hand on his arm. "I wonder if she's ever going to get over that?"

Ranma stepped back from her touch. "Ucchan? You threw bombs at her? Do you expect her to just get over it?"

Ukyo frowned angrily. "She was trying to marry you? What would you have me do?"

"But... you..." Ranma's mind locked up. He hated fighting with Ukyo, but it had been happening more and more of late. Why couldn't it be like the old days when their friendship meant something. She was wrong to throw bombs but she always made it out to be his fault.

"Look Ukyo, I'm sorry. I gotta go."

Ukyo's anger spiked a lot more, but Ranma had already turned away and was jogging off.

He tried looking for Akane but she had already left.

* * *

Ranma saw Akane's shoes among the others at the front door and let out a sigh, expecting another grilling from one of his parents about his treatment of her. He entered intent on making his way to the Dojo but stopped under the gaze of Akane from the top of the stairs. She had obviously been home long enough to change from her school uniform to her yellowed training gi.

"That must have been a fast quickie you had at the Ucchan, Ranma."

Ranma bristled under the comment, but before he could comment she interrupted. "Kasumi and Aunty aren't back from shopping yet so lunch will be a while off yet. Unless you've made a date with one of your other floozies, would you like to do some sparring?"

Ranma wasn't going to let her interrupt him again after that. "They ain't my..."

Unfortunately, their father's storming out of the main room interrupted him.

"Which floozies would these be, son? I thought you were going to actually do something about them after the last wedding?" Soun wailed into his face.

Genma turned him around to face him. "Boy, just look at yourself. You're nearly a man and you must keep playing these childish games with these girls. Take some responsibility for yourself?"

Ranma just let the anger go. "What the hell would you know about responsibility, you old fart? It ain't my fault Shampoo and Kodatchi won't take no." Part way though his rant he saw Akane had descended the stairs and was walking away towards the dojo, shaking her head.

He swung around on Soun again. "Mr Tendo, if you really want to know the main reason there are these other girls, here's the answer."

He hoisted his father in front of Soun with one hand. "Ask this old fraud why I have been engaged to other girls if I'm supposed to be marrying your daughter!"

Genma began to fumble out an answer as Soun's anger was redirect to the older man, which gave Ranma more than enough time to escape up the hall.

Ranma glanced back at the pair as he entered the dojo, quickly closing the doors behind him.

Turning, he saw Akane doing stretches in the middle of the large hall, facing away from him. As she bent over, her body folding so her torso lay against her leg before switching to the other side, his mind flashed up an image from the furo that morning and several other occasions. He pinched his nose at the thoughts.

She looked at him from between her legs, her small smile somehow more unsettling upside down. She stood up and turned, rolling her head around her neck to loosen up. "If you're done with all the interruptions, are you ready to spar?"

"Anything to be away from them," he replied taking a ready stance, happier to see she seemed over her earlier anger.

Ranma had taking sparing between them slightly more serious that he had before the incident at phoenix mountain. He still wasn't going all out, which he knew angered her still, but he had actually started to show her some weaknesses and help her better her technique. He didn't want to acknowledge why but he hated the idea of her being kidnapped or hurt again.

They had been sparing for nearly ten minutes when he actually started on one of the bigger flaws in her style. "Akane, you gotta control," block, "your body a bit more."

"What are you," reverse kick, "talking about?"

"Don't put," duck, "absolutely all your power," jump, "behind your attacks."

"But if I don't", punch, "what's the point in attacking?"

"Put enough to be effective," duck, roll, "but you're going overboard." Jump, block, "You'll tire yourself out quicker," flip, "and telegraph your moves. When you go all out, it's like I can read your mind."

-9. The MALE is expected to mind-read at all times-

The rule flashed up in his mind, a moment of clarity to his life. 'Was he supposed to be looking for things like this all the time?... But the rules are just a joke, right?'

The moment was spoiled as Akane's kick caught him in the hip, spinning him around and dropping him to the dojo floor.

Cursing his distraction he was just able to roll over as Akane dived on him. She had been going for his arm, to lock it in behind him but found herself at a distinct disadvantage. All too soon she was rolled onto her back under him, and pinned by his greater strength.

"You give?" he asked, grinning.

Akane struggled a bit more, blushing lightly from having Ranma so close to her.

"Lunch everyone."

Akane grinned at Kasumi's voice ringing out. "I guess this is a draw."

Ranma was still pinning her. "No chance. You lose. You can't get out of this."

Akane looked him straight in the eye, "Then the fight goes on, and your father will eat your lunch."

Ranma's face fell and he looked from Akane to the door and back again. "Aww, come on."

* * *

Ranma grumpily sat in his spot at the table, Akane grinning as she sat beside him. Soun, Genma-panda, and Nabiki were already seated at the table when the school heirs had entered.

Kasumi and Nodoka walked in happily carrying western pizzas they had brought back from their shopping trip, Kasumi served to her father then Nabiki and Akane as Nodoka did the same for her husband and son.

As they dug in Akane leaned over to Ranma. "Compliment your mother's new dress," she hissed to him between bites.

Ranma quickly looked over at the sundress his mother was wearing. It did look kinda new and he didn't remember seeing it before. "Ah, Mom. That dress, ah, looks nice."

Nodoka beamed at her son, "Why thank you Ranma. I just got it when we were out today." She also winked to Akane knowing full well her involvement.

Genma-panda 'growfd' as he held up a sign. It looks beautiful on you my wife.

"Thank you husband," she replied politely, with a fraction of her enthusiasm she had for her son.

"Free lesson there, Ranma," Nabiki put in, "It's not the words that matter, it's the thought. And being first helps."

Soon the rapid eating slowed to a gentler pace.

Kasumi wiped her mouth with a napkin. "Oh Akane, I got you a present." She said rummaging in a plastic bag. She brought out a little blue dogs bowl, on the front it had 'P-chan' in yellow kanji.

Akane smiled brightly, taking it from her. "How cute."

"Isn't it? I just had to get it for you."

"Thanks a lot, I love it." Akane replied still looking the bowl over.

Nodoka finished another slice of pizza. "Do you have a pet dog, Akane?"

"Not a dog Aunty, a cute little black piglet. That's why he's called P-chan, P for pig and -chan for cute." She said with a bright smile. "But I haven't seen him around for a while."

"Did he run off dear?"

"Nah, he just gets lost real easy." Ranma put in before biting into another slice. Akane's elbow had him coughing on it for a moment.

"Ranma never liked P-chan, and he chases him off."

Nodoka straightened in her seat, sending Genma slinking back hoping this wouldn't in any way come back at him. "Ranma, is this true?"

Ranma swallowed quickly. "No it ain't true. The pig attacks me and wanders off by himself."

Nodoka watched her son carefully, but was distracted by a smile flicker across Akane's features.

Akane turned towards Ranma. "If that's true, then you'll come with me and look for him this afternoon."

Ranma looked at Akane. "But we haven't seen Pig-boy in ages, he could be in China by now."

Akane raised one eyebrow.

"Fine."

* * *

Ranma looked around as he stretched.

As far as parks go, this was pretty nice, and he should know. They'd been walking for hours, he felt like they'd walked through every park and market in Nerima. As it was they were a fair distance from the Furinkan area, though Akane had stopped actually calling for P-chan shortly after leaving their house.

"Ranma, look there."

Ranma looked at Akane to see where she was leading them now. Ahead was a poster for a carnival, and the moment he saw it he knew he'd be going there. Akane seemed to love these dumb festivals.

Akane was smiling as she began to unpin the poster, rolling it up.

Ranma took a deep breath, "Ah, you want to go to..."

"HOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO, and just what is going on here." The two turned to see Kodatchi landing right in front of Ranma. She wore her St Hebereke school uniform and her lustrous black hair tied back in a ponytail. She appraised the situation with a glance.

"My my my, such tortures you are forced to endure, Ranma sweet'ums. Forced by your honour to your family to stay with this horrid little tramp." She closed the distance to Ranma and lay her hand on his chest.

Ranma was baking away, in part because of Kodatchi's hand on his chest and the other because he knew Hurricane Akane was about to blow through.

Akane was glaring angrily at Kodatchi. "Ranma is in no way forced to be here, hussy." Her gaze turned on Ranma. "If you want to go run off with this harpy, don't let me stop you!" Turning she began to storm off.

Ranma's mouth moved but Kodatchi was right in his face again. "Come dear, let us be off to the Kuno mansion and tally no more on this forced date with this brute."

Akane swung back. "Like I'd date him! We happen to be looking for my pet!"

Kodatchi glanced quickly between the two of them in surprise but she quickly covered for it. "HOHOHOHO, of course, my Ranma would never date a creature as loathsome as you." Kodatchi smiled and swept her hair back over her shoulder. "Well, I must be off. Ranma, you know my bedroom window is always left open for you. Hohohohoho..."

Akane watched angrily as Kodatchi leapt to the roof of a nearby house and away, "I am so fed up with her. Every time I see her I wonder if I really do dislike Shampoo more."

"Well it's not like I wan..." Ranma's voice failed as Akane glared at him.

She shook her head as if to clear it, noticeably calming. Turning to look in the direction Kodatchi had left. "I wonder what she was doing out here. It's pretty far from her school."

Ranma shrugged, "It's been a year since that time I fought her in rhythmic gymnastics, maybe she's still bumping off the competition."

Akane nodded thoughtfully. "What a bitch. How could anyone be like that?"

"Bweee!"

Both teenagers swung around in surprise at the sound, Akane's face coming to life as she saw her piglet again. Akane swept the pig up into her arms hugging the black piglet tightly. "P-chan. I'm so happy to see you my little baby. I never ever thought I'd see you again, you've been gone soooo long."

Ranma grumbled a bit as Akane lavished affections on the piglet, his mind already thinking of some way to get the piglet away from Akane before bedtime. He had considered they had no chance they find the little oinker, so of course they'd found him. 'Doesn't matter. Ryoga has Akari now, he ain't stayin' with Akane tonight.' But even as he thought it, he new Akane would be unforgiving of he tried to get rid of the pig, she was absolutely ecstatic to see the little beast.

'...I never ever thought I'd see you again...'

Ranma was a few paces behind the girl and her pig as they began the walk home, but that sentence began to bug him. 'If she never figured she'd see P-chan again, why did we just waste a whole afternoon looking for the walking pork snack?'

His mind kept churning the thought for several moments, recalling many other walks like this, most of which ended up going a fair distance from their neighbourhood, the vast majority of which they didn't find P-chan on. They must have taken long walks through every park in Nerima by now.

'... followed by a long romantic walk through the park...'

He paled, remembered the line from some dumb romance anime.

'...tally no more on this forced date with this brute.'

Kodatchi's voice from earlier. She obviously thought they were on a date.

His mind reviewed the afternoon. They hadn't fought at all, Akane had been walking closer to him than normal, she had never expect to find P-chan, Kodatchi had thought they were on a date...

"Hey Ranma, you okay?"

Ranma looked up at Akane's smiling face as she looked back at him from further up the path. "Yeah, just thinking about some stuff."

He quickly crossed the distance to be beside her as she began walking again. "Come on, let's head home."

"You in a rush?"

Ranma looked around at Akane who blushed and glanced down. 'She does think this is a date or somethin'.'

-1. The FEMALE always makes THE RULES, THE RULES are subject to change without prior notice.-

Ranma's face fell as he stepped in beside Akane, the pair slowly continuing on their way. He suddenly understood that this was a date, looking for P-chan was just an excuse. Akane had known it from the beginning, she'd set it up!

The clarity in his mind began to spread, Akane starting fights in front of the other girls... she'd let him hit Kuno today... maybe even the bathroom incident... It was some kind of game!

'But if she wanted me to come on this date, and to drive off the other girls, and to see her... then she must... like me?'

Ranma glanced at Akane beside him, who looked away quickly from him. With a silent prayer, he raised his arm and put it over her shoulder. "Ah, just till the end of the park."

Akane's eyes were wide as she looked up at his face, but he was staring straight forward.

Ranma could feel the blush on his cheeks as he waited for a reaction from Akane. He didn't see her nod but he felt her step closer to him, her side touching his and her head leaning against his shoulder.

P-chan looked up warily at Ranma and Akane, both blushing and sharing a small smile. 'When the hell did they get so close?'

To be continued...

This came from Tom Wrenches fic idea of 'Akane playing games' which was a perfect inspiration I came across when wondering were to take a fic idea of Ranma finding 'The Rules'.

Thanks for reading,

Trent O'Donoghue


	2. Level 2, Intermediate

Rules of the Games- Level 2 Intermediate

Disclaimer: These characters are not mine. They belong to the wonderful Rumiko Takahashi and her licensees (Viz Communications in North America). This work is strictly for the non-profit enjoyment of fans. No copyright infringement is intended.

'Rules of the Games' is based upon a story idea by Tom Wrensch (because my ideas are crap compared to his).

Last Updated: 20/12/05

The heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts grinned as he ran through a fairly basic practice routine in the dojo. In fact, he had been smiling for a couple hours straight, and the reasoning behind it was as distracting to his work as the thought that he had been smiling this long.

Akane Tendo, his reluctant fiancée, actually liked him.

As foreign the idea sounded in his own mind, the evidence was there, in that park, many blocks east of the dojo. And that evidence acted like one of those weird kids toy decoder wheels, applying a new point of view to all sorts of memories of them together, so many times when he thought she was angry with him, she was actually, liking him. All these accidents, or spontaneous confusing fights, were all making sense.

Jumping to the side, his footing failed on landing and he stumbled left, but the smile stayed on his face. As he restarted the kata, he marvelled at how regardless of the imperfections entering his training, there was no concern for them. His lack of focus could cost him his next fight, but part of him considered the training more of a distraction to thinking about Akane. An idle part of his mind wondered if his father would see it that way…

With a shrug he moved beside the wall and tipped himself over, with casual grace taking a stance on the tripod of his head and arms, legs folding above him as he took a mediative pose. His mind flittered over the subject of his fiancée, trying to see the patterns in Akane's behaviour, trying to structure all her 'games'.

Nodoka stepped gently into the silent dojo, her blue eyes seeking out her only child in some kind of yoga meditation. She frowned a moment at the change in his behaviour, having expected him to be only a short way into his long training sessions. As only a mother can, her mind reviewed his every action of the morning so far and the day before, looking for other changes in behaviour that might let her identify what was troubling her child so she could help him.

He had behaved fairly normally ever since returning from successfully searching out Akane's pet last night, except for some teasing of Akane over the piglet, which would not have escalated had her future daughter in law began retorting in kind. The frown deepened as she considered Ranma's dislike of the animal, and Akane's apparent need to cuddle the piglet. Had he been raised with a pet she would have never conceived it, but could her son be jealous of Akane's attention to the animal?

"Ranma-kun, may I interrupt?"

The pigtailed boy's blue eyes blinked open and he quickly righted himself. "Sure Mom, what's up?"

The elder woman smiled as she approached her son and held out the poster of the carnival Akane had brought home. "Soun found this inside the gate today and had suggested our two families attend next weekend, however Nabiki and your father has expressed little interest. I thought you might like to ask Akane to go with you this afternoon so you can tell us if it is a good time. At the very least it would give the two of you a private time out?"

"Sure,er...-ly you don't think a tomboy like Akane would want to go to some dumb carnival?" Ranma was rather proud of his covering up his initial utterance, but as his mothers frown deepened he realised that the tomboy part was a bit harsh. "I mean, with me. She's still pretty mad about… stuff."

His mother looked at her son for a long moment. "I suppose we could save a little money with a night in, and Kasumi and I could try some more exotic recipes with Akane."

The old Ranma mentality kicked in, defensively weighing the advantages of asking out Akane, and going on a date, compared with suffering her cooking. Slamming one fist into the other palm, he nodded, to his mother. "Okay, but we ain't calling it a date. Pop's and Mr Tendo would never shut up about it."

"Alright my son," she replied, "we are not going to call it a date, but if you bring her home with a smile on her face, I will have a surprise for you."

Ranma flinched as he got both stressed parts of his mother's statement, the grammar correction as well as the primary meaning.

* * *

"Psst!"

-tap, tap-

Akane didn't move her body at all, just her eyes looking up from where she was writing in a book on her desk. Her brown eyes considered Ranma hanging outside her bedroom window, glancing towards her door then back at the boy.

With a sigh she stood, one hand plucking P-chan out of her lap to hold him up as her other hand opened the window. Her eyes narrowed slightly as the boy eyed her piglet, seeming to gain in nervousness but before she could ask anything he put a finger to his lips. Below, she could hear her father speaking to Ranma's, with a nod she stood back from the window.

With the way clear, Ranma climb-crawled into the room and shut the window and grinned at his fiancée, his grin losing some of its cockiness as she looked back with impatience. "Hey, you know that carnival you found the poster for, well anyway, Mom wants to know if it's worth going to and suggested we go check it out."

"Just the two of us? Together?" Her voice was slow, deliberated, and Ranma almost wanted to look away from her eyes, her brown orbs sizing him up with a glance that held certain smugness, and a slight predatory hunger.

Ranma's eyes dipped to the eyes of the piglet held to her side, its eyes confused but darkening. "I mean, it's not a date, just checking out if it is fun or not."

"And if it is fun?"

The pigtailed boy frowned, stepping back as his shorter fiancée took a step towards him. "Huh?"

"And if we do have fun at the carnival, what happens then, Ranma?"

His back bounced lightly off Akane's door as she forced him back by approaching again. "Er, we'll see?"

Her lips pursed, accompanied by a short disappointed moan, "I suppose, we'll see about this carnival, after lunch then." Grabbing the front of his shirt, she pulled him from the door, opened it, and pushed him out into the hall, closing the door in his face, leaving him looking in confusion at the rattling duck name plate with her name on it.

* * *

The matron of the Saotome family living at the Tendo dojo smiled as she caught her son glance at his fiancée yet again over lunch. The youngest Tendo girl sat demurely in a pretty sundress with some faint touches of make up, eating a modest lunch. The girl wasn't looking directly at her son, yet ever keeping him just in her side vision as she chatted to the others.

Nodoka's eyes lowered to where the black piglet sat beside her future daughter in law, eyes little beady eyes watching her son, only occasionally looking up at its mistress. It was an odd thought, but if only it sniffed at the food on the table, it would seem more like a natural pet to her. When she had been growing up, Nodoka had had a small dog, and it was always sniffing for table scraps. This piglet's lack of interest felt very much unnatural.

The meal had past without much incident, Akane excusing herself first, taking up some leftovers to her room in the new pet dish Kasumi had gotten for her, the piglet under one arm as she went up. As the fathers went off into their little world of shogi, Nabiki excused herself, taking her coat as she left the house, Nodoka joining Kasumi in gathering the dishes. As Kasumi took the first load into the kitchen, she glanced to her son still finishing a third helping and raised her eyebrows questioningly.

"Er, yeah. I'll go and get her now. Er, try and make sure Pop's doesn't follow us."

"Good luck my son," she whispered back, her eyes flickering to where Soun and Genma were engrossed in setting up their game board.

Disappearing upstairs, it took only a moment before she heard a reaction. Actually, it was rather hard to miss.

"PERVERT!" Akane's voice thundered from upstairs, her son appearing dashing back down the stairs and out the front door, followed quickly by a shinai wielding fiancée. "I'll teach you not to peep on me!"

Reaching the door after them, Nodoka saw Akane rushing after Ranma out the open gate, hopping slightly as one finger slipped her shoe on properly. The elder woman's eyes narrowed as she noted Akane's bamboo sword left beside the door, beside Kasumi's umbrella.

Going back inside, Nodoka shook her head. She knew Akane was more interested in her son than she often claimed, the wedding had taught her that much, but her manner of hiding and showing that interest certainly took some getting used to. It certainly wasn't like that in her day. Glancing outside again, she hoped they wouldn't be back too late, they had school tomorrow.

* * *

Shifting his black pigtail over his shoulder, Ranma frowned and glanced at the fencing around the grounds taken by the carnival. The Sunday afternoon queue they were in passed the sign stating the cost of entry, and he was not surprised at all in Nabiki or his father's lack of interest in attendance. He glanced at the pretty girl in line beside him, wondering how she'd take suggestion of sneak in, but decided against it. Akane liked him, and until he knew how to keep her liking him there wasn't any gain in risking that.

The girl in question idly brushed her arm against her fiancés, her eyes looking to the colourful posters and decorations, some advertising the activities inside the carnival grounds. Her eyes flittered from item to item, occasionally glancing back to her fiancé with a sly smile.

The queue moved on, the pair coming before the fare collector, an old grey haired woman who eyed them with alert eyes, her voice light if a bit worn as she addressed Ranma, "Just you and your girlfriend, son?"

Ranma's head swept around the queue to see any shocked or inquisitive faces before his blue eyes looked to Akane's face and her curious expression. Swallowing, he spoke to the woman while still looking at Akane. "Er, yeah, me and my girlfriend?"

The question was definitely there but as Akane smiled slyly and nodded. Ranma quickly gained confidence and slid his arm around her shoulder to hold her at his side, holding out some yen coins to the woman with his other hand. The woman grinned and winked at Akane as she placed a stamp on their wrists and ushered them through into the fair grounds.

The gate opened into the main path of the carnival, extending ahead with stalls on each side towards the big top tent and main arena, while branches coming off were sign posted for side show alley, the rides, the animals, and more.

"So where too?" Ranma asked simply, content for her to lead, as he pulled his arm back from her shoulder in case they encountered anyone they knew.

Her hands were faster though, latching onto his, keeping him hooked around her neck without looking at him, and leading him towards one of the branches, "This way," she said, taking him into the games and booths of Side Show Alley.

Sweeping his blue eyes over the thinned crowd, Ranma nodded, happy as it was mostly children and families, not many at all close to his and Akane's own age, his tension at being spotted and interrupted lowering, his arm relaxing around her as they walked down. Her bright eyes surveying the games, the turning clown heads, the goldfish catching, but she seemed drawn over to the coin toss.

Akane shook her head as she saw Ranma cautiously looking over the plates arrayed in the stall, pulling back from her as he started leaning out and back oddly before he saw the attendant looking at him with a frown. The coloured plates all matched up to the coloured board of prizes, plastic combs and lollies for the larger plates, the smaller and further back plates getting up to stuff toys and t-shirts, the biggest plush toy requiring multiple successful tosses on the same plate. Several coins already dotted the plates from apparent earlier winners.

As her hand retrieved several coins from her purse, Ranma's hand closed over hers and he whispered cryptically to her, "Go for the light red."

Her eyes looked at the children's watches and prize vouchers for that colour, and shook her head. "But I want a good prize," she whispered back and tossed for the gold plate up the back.

The throw was clean, the coin landing neatly on the front edge but slid that little bit too far and off the back of the plate, her momentary elation dropping with it. Rolling his eyes at the determined look on her face, Ranma imagined she would be pushing her sleaves up had the sundress she wore had sleaves. Again she tossed, this time landing on the back of the plate and bouncing away.

Her eyes glared at him as he chucked his tongue, looking back at the booth as she tossed the third coin, this time at the red plate, the coin landing with clink, stopping quickly as it hit a coin already in place off the back edge. The attendant congratulated her throw, offering her selection of prize, Akane asking for one of the gift voucher envelops on the wall, her eyes looking at Ranma when the attendant turned to get it down.

"How'd you know?" she whispered her eyes not pleased when he shrugged.

"It's a scam. It looks like the red plate is the best one which hasn't been greased up to make the coins slide off. These guys make money by taking loses on cheap crap while luring ya with the big prizes," he whispered back.

Taking the prize with a rather forced 'thank you', the pair began to slowly walk on, Akane now more interest in Ranma than the games, "How do you know all this?"

Ranma shrugged again, "Pop's and me used to practice throwing control on em and win stuff to sell later. Got run out of a few of these things in the country villages for it." He grinned and shook his head, his eyes seeing some memory.

"So you can beat their cheating?" she asked, her eyes taking a hungry tone. Her arm took his turning them both around and heading back towards the booth.

"Anything Goes Martial Arts Carnival Tricks? It ain't that hard, you could do it ya practiced some. Ya did okay with those throws. Why, what ya want me to win ya?"

The attendant was frowning again as the pair approached, but that just seemed to make the pigtailed boy smirk, Akane grinning as she pointed out a large pink plush piglet, "How about a friend for P-chan?"

Ranma withheld a chuckle, "Fine but you tell him you won it, he hates me already," he joked, seeing more humour in it than Akane did. Reaching into his pockets for more of the appropriate coins, he counted four of them into his palm before putting the rest away, looking at the silver plate up the back, barely larger than the gold near it, which the sign said he needed three coins on to win the pig.

"See the target, know the strength, breath out, toss," he said as instruction before flicking the first coin, the thin disk landing to dislodge one coin already on the plate, stopping immediately. Only the attendant seemed unimpressed. "You can't get that really fine control while breathing so you do it before you inhale."

Akane nodded as he finished, his hand already tossing the second coin at the plate, hitting the front and sliding to the back, stopping just hanging over the back, Akane's hand grabbing his other arm in nervousness, only to release him when she looked up at his cocky grin, "Something wrong Akane?"

He tossed the last coin before she could answer, this one hitting the front edge of the plate, flipping up in the air before landing on the silver plastic and previous coin, its weight holding the second coin from tipping over the edge. He smiled at her, the cocky grin getting under her skin like only he could.

"Who do you think you're fooling, you still had an extra coin in case you blew it," she accused and pointed at the coin still in his hand.

His face was badly feigned innocence, "What ya talking about, I'm just hungry." With a nonchalant toss he flipped the last coin onto an orange plate and turned to the attendant, "The pink pig for the lady and a box of biscuits for me thanks."

Not smiling, the attendant handed the plush toy to Akane and a box of pocky biscuit sticks to Ranma. "Enjoy the rest of the fair, sir."

"Will do, thanks," Ranma said with a nod, not the first time he'd been given the message of move on from such a vendor.

Before he could open the food, Akane snatched the box of biscuits from him, "Save those, you weren't the only one to win something remember," she said, showing the gift vouchers she had won were movie tickets, "You can have them later."

* * *

P-chan sat on some grass in the afternoon sun, trying to decide if he should stay again here or leave now. It was good to see Akane again, and her unconditional love for her pet, but he knew his future was with another girl, and he fearfully imagined an angry look on Akari's face if she found out about his P-chan act with Akane, even if he was only did sleep at her feet now. If he left he might be able to find Akari's farm and see her…

As he sighed and pondered, gentle feminine footsteps approached, lithe fingers reaching down to pick the black porcine body from the grass.

Nodoka looked at the black body squealing as she held it up. "Hush hush, little one. I have a present for you."

The older woman's face broke in a frown as the animal quieted and looked at her, like it understood her words. Shaking her head, she turned and walked with it back towards the house. "There you are little one, your new home."

On the veranda was a small dog kennel, more like a dolls house really, with an open end into the pink house-like structure, a pink pet bed inside it. Stencilled over the top of the entrance was the kanji of 'P-chan'.

"This is your new home, P-chan." She said absently, smiling at the cute kennel, "And now my son doesn't have to drive you off, since you won't be sleeping in Akane's bed anymore he won't be jealous."

Nodoka's smile lowered as the piglet looked at the structure, its beady eyes rolling back to look at her. It reminded her of the look in her son's eyes the time she had gotten her son a pretty dress that was just too gorgeous to pass up for when her son had to be a girl. Still, this had been very cheap, an old friend's husband owning a shop that made such dog kennels.

"You wouldn't be able to stay with Akane-chan for very much longer, little one. They are getting much closer, I'm sure we can have another wedding for them soon."

Wanting away from this woman, the imagery she was portraying, and the pink house she wanted him living in, P-chan struggled in her grip, but only managed to turn himself around in her grip.

"You want in already little one?" Nodoka asked obliviously, shifting to keep her grip on the animal and moving to put it in the pink kennel, but stopped, turning him over as she stood back up.

"When did Akane-chan last bathe you, P-chan? We can't have you going in your new home dirty. Let's ask Kasumi-chan if we can use the hand tub to wash you up."

* * *

Two red-faced teenagers climbed out of the rollercoaster cart, stepping down as more carnival goers stepped up to take their place. She was red faced from the wild ride, he was red-faced from how she had clung to him, her short hair whipping past his cheek and nose.

Covering his embarrassment, he gestured glowing metal cart, offering ice creams and more, "Hey Akane, want something?"

She nodded, her eyes bright, "Go you halves in some cotton candy?"

Nodding cheerfully, he dutifully went to purchase the confection. Paying with his dwindling supplies, he took a stick of the stringy pink fluff from the vendor, turning to return to Akane. His eyes caught her smile and laughter, but his heart dropped as it wasn't at him, but some guy before her, down on one knee, offering her something. At her blush he reacted.

His body had crossed the distance before his mind had, one hand grabbing the stranger's shoulder, pulling him up and around to face him, the flowers in the guys hand hitting Ranma's chest in the action, "Hey buddy, she don't want any."

Akane frowned then grinned at Ranma's reaction of confusion at the white painted face of the mime, "It's okay Ranma, he's just doing a show." She said coming between them, her fingers deftly taking a piece of the cotton candy from the stick, "Somehow I don't think he's in Kirin or Toma's league for you to rescue me from," she joked, popping the candy in her mouth, her pink tongue licking at sticky fingers.

Calming, slightly embarrassed, Ranma nodded, his cheeks reddening. "Sorry bout that, I mean, you know, with our luck."

Akane nodded, but the antics of the mime behind Ranma, miming out actions of doing his hair and muscle possess in imitation of her fiancé caught her eye and made her giggle. Ranma was less impressed, raising an arm to shoo the mime off.

"Ranma, don't you dare hit that mime!" Akane accused quickly.

The pigtailed boy rounded on her, "I ain't gonna hit him, he ain't a martial artist…"

The laughter of the growing crowd made Ranma turn again, angrily seeing the mime bowing and cowering behind him, as he had placated Akane.

"He's only making a joke, Ranma."

Giving the mime an angry look, he spoke at Akane, "Tell me when he does something funny."

"Don't be such a spoilsport Ranma, he is just performing."

His head swung around on her as her words reverberated in his mind.

-12. A MALE must be ready to perform at all times, a FEMALE is ready when she is ready.-

Shaking it off, he shrugged. "Ain't like its real acting, Akane."

"You think you could do better?" She grinned at him, even as his stomach tightened.

Behind him, the Mime tapped his shoulder, making him turn around before he mimed pulling his glove off, one finger at a time, and once off, slapped the imaginary glove on Ranma's face.

"Look you…"

Akane's hand covered his mouth. "Mime's don't talk. Good luck." She leaned up and kissed his cheek, before stepping back, but the surprise of the moved had him watching her when two more mimes grabbed him and dragged him aside.

Two minutes later, an angry, white painted face Ranma returned, the original mime also returning, in a blue Chinese shirt similar to Ranma's red one, with a false pigtail clipped on behind his neck.

The growing crowd clapped and the mime deeply bowed with a flourished to them, Ranma taking a formal stance and bowing sharply. He looked at his opponent mime, and the mime smiled and walked forward, hand coming out as if to shake when he suddenly stopped, as if hitting something unseen.

With a surprised expression the mime felt out the wall in front, his face growing scared as he felt on this invisible 'wall' between them, moving around the sides as if contained inside this imaginary box. Clicking his finger with an expression of delight, like he suddenly had an idea, he reached to his belt, pulling out an imaginary object. Holding it up, he gestured with his free hand showing it barely a foot in length with a wide head. Reaching again to his belt he pulled out a second item, and placed it against where the walls of his imaginary box met. With a motion, he swung the imaginary hammer on the imaginary chisel, only to cry out soundlessly, grabbing his thumb like in pain, as those in the crowd catching on laughed and clapped. Overacting the regaining of his composure, the mime bent over to pick the imaginary tools up once more, and began hammering at the wall joints, finally miming pushing the wall out, and breathing the air in relief, as the crowd clapped for his performance. Finally the mime bowed to Ranma, letting the pig tailed martial artist know it was his turn.

The boy in question looked to Akane, seeing her happy yet challenging smile, knowing he was 'performing' for her, and figured that it was with big points in this stupid rules thing. At least it better be. 'Okay, Anything Goes School of Martial Arts Mime. Can't be that hard?' he thought to himself, applying the base rules of the Saotome School to the problem. 'Watch, learn, copy, improve.'

Raising his hands, he clapped to Mime, his clapping getting longer as he opened his arms wider with each time, till he copied the Mime's own shocked expression, hands moving against the imaginary box wall, mapping it out for the audience with the flat of his palms, showing he was stuck on all four sides. Exaggerating taking a breath, his stance classical to the martial arts as he visibly found his centre. And as a hush came over the crowd, he lashed out with a fist, pulling it short at the boundary of the imaginary wall.

He pulled it back to his lips in a flash, hunching over as if in pain, stomping his feet as he kissed his knuckles. The Saotome technique of 'Crane with Broken Wing', one he hadn't used since he was about eleven, wasn't the most honourable of tactics, faking breaking your hand so out of sympathy your opponent lets down his guard, but it worked here and that was what mattered. The crowd laughed and he could hear Akane clapping.

Looking up with sudden determination, and struck again, this time going into a training routine he had picked up in his travels, a style that countered grapplers with short sharp strikes, kept close to the body so as to leave less opportunities to grab limbs. After a couple blows against the limits of the box he became a blur of motion, kicks, knees, elbows and punches, all within the box. He slowed down, finally resting one hand on invisible wall as he overacted regaining his breath.

Finally he looked at the mime and clicked his fingers, imitating the mimes inspiration face, and crouched. With a spring he shot up, nearly three meters straight, his hand coming out as if to grasp the top of the wall as he flipped over that point, completing the flip as he landed on his feet. He leant back on the imaginary wall, a smug look on his face, the mime showing surprise as the crowd clapped loudly, Akane's voice ringing out with a happy "Show off!"

Still smirking, the pigtailed boy turned to walk towards Akane, when the mime strode over, grabbing his arm. His other hand came up with pointing finger waving from side to side like a mother scolding a child, but as he did it, the false pigtail began to stand out the back of his head with a life of its own, his eyes closing into squints, and though leaning forward he stumbled backwards three steps. As the mimes hands were held up to push against some pressure against him, the mime continued to try and fight forward.

"Mommy, he's walking against the wind!"

Ignoring the little girl in the crowd, Ranma looked closely at the mime as he worked, watching the movements, his expression showing his lack of awe. Finally, the Mime took two steps more back, miming fighting the imaginary wind to close an imaginary door, and when he finally shut it, stood panting behind it from the exsertion. Standing up, he gestured back to Ranma.

'I ain't doing that crap,' he thought to himself, 'Wind, wind, wind, Dragon blast is too big, most wind is too big, and hard to control direction, can't just push myself up by pushing down…Herb!' Setting himself, Ranma took some deep breaths, focusing his power. Finally, he exhaled, tossing down a fist through the air, and suddenly rocked back two steps and a bit to the left. Deeply focused, he tried again with the other arm, this time leaning forward more and he jolted up in place. Nodding to himself, he took another breath and let fly with both arms, again and again.

How Dragon Prince Herb of the Musk Dynasty had projected his chi down he had no idea, must have been part of his dragon heritage, but Ranma's arms flapped in the air, invisible chi blasts jetting down, reflecting off the ground, and up hitting his body. Prepared for them, he absorbed the impacts, the blows lifting him, first a little, then a yard off the ground, his arms like hummingbird wings as the crowd watched him float. Akane's clapping seemed to wake the crowd who clapped along, their acknowledgement making him go higher at first before lowering down to a stop and landing.

Other carnival workers were staring, some in the back talking as loudly as the crowd, but Ranma ignored them, glancing with a smirk to Akane before looking back at white painted faced mine who had got him in this dumb competition. "What's next?"

'Boo's' and 'Shushes' came from the crowd as they stopped cheering for him, Akane shaking her head at him in a disappointed way that reminded him of when she had mothered Ryoga and himself when they had been reduced in age by magical mushrooms. He exaggerated zipping his lips shut before turning against to the mime, who had already started a new routine

The mimes face showed determination as he began bringing out tools, including a gas tank on a trolley, deft moves of his hands hiding a long balloon from the crowd till it had begun to inflate, straight and thin like a yellow sausage, further deft and squeaky movements twisting the balloon till finally he placed the dog like balloon in one little girl's hand, much to the envy of the little boys and girls near her.

Ranma's eyes narrowed as he watched the manoeuvres, looking at the technique, his mind trying to think how to build on what he saw. He watched as the mime used a long red balloon, folding it over and over and over, then a second red balloon, a traditional one, to go in the middle of the length, forming a red flower. Deformed, yet obviously a flower. His blue eyes widened as he realised who it was for.

"Hey, she's…" he said as he tried to beat the mime to Akane, but the words from his mouth got more shushes from the crowd and an unimpressed look from his fiancée who purposefully turned to the smirking mime in his fake pigtail.

Standing impotently, Ranma tried to think of how to mime his way back at the mime, as Akane went along with smelling the red balloon flower like the mime did, the twinkle in her eye he knew was her having fun at his expense, but at the same time waiting for his return on the mime. The mime turned the balloon flower and girl towards him to smell, the petals open towards his face.

-bang-

A little girl shrieked in the crowd as the centre balloon burst, confetti raining over Ranma's face as he ducked back, arms at the ready to defend. Shaking the coloured flecks of paper off, he saw Akane looking concerned at him then growing amused seeing he was fine. He looked around when he realised the mime was gone, finding his opponent had moved back to his gas canister. Shoving balloons into his shirt, the mime turned back, his biceps and chest bulging in his shirt, as he strutted to and fro, coming up beside Akane and pretending to forcefully take her arm and stand beside her like he owned her.

Shaking more confetti out of his hair, ignoring the crowd clapping, Ranma tried to appraise this battle. The mime was putting him down to earn points with the crowd, but how do you put down a mime back without looking like an idiot. The Soul of Ice could suppress a person's feelings of pride and shame, but a mime felt even beyond that at the moment. Even with all the magic tricks he had learnt to counter Mousse's hidden weapon fighting style when the blind Chinese boy had first come to Nerima, he didn't have any good magic tricks to really show this jerk up. And he didn't think using pain pressure points on the mime would earn much with Akane. He took a breath, trying to think.

Looking around, he glanced over where the mime had his props, nodding slowly as he began to move, unbuttoning his shirt as he went. Picking up a top hat, he felt the inside for the false top, not wanting a rabbit dropping out on him, and then used his body to shield his actions from those that could follow his hand as he snatched a second item into the black hat.

Turning back, he held the hat in one hand as he finished taking off his shirt, holding it loosely to one side. Waving the mime out of the way, Ranma came before the crowded onlookers, tensing his muscles for best effect in the muscle shirt he wore as he saw some women in the crowd looking at his arms. With a smile, he waved to the crowd and whipped his red shirt around in a distracting flourish, and put the hat on his head.

The gasps in the crowd came as Ranma-chan posed with the top cap, her figure obvious in the muscle shirt, a trickle of water from the hat ruining the white make up from her temple down one cheek, with more she could feel running down her neck.

The mimes mouth hung open, and when he dropped a curse word more gasps came out of the crowd, many parents rushing to cover the ears of their children before moving away.

Akane rushed forward, grasping the girl and turning her fiancé to her. For a moment, Ranma though she was going to close the distance, but then her hand wiped at the white face paint on her cheek. "Let's get you out of this make up."

Nodding, feeling the moment passing, Ranma tossed the wet top hat back to the props area. "And some hot water." The loss of the moment made his victory feel hollow, but as Akane dragged her along the red head had a funny feeling that she was leading them in pursuit of it.

* * *

P-chan lessened his struggles as Nodoka filled the small tub on the edge of the veranda with cold water and knelt down to wash him. Not that struggles had worked, the woman had an iron grip that would not break.

"There now little one, it's not so bad, is it?" Nodoka said calmly, washing over the animal as it became more docile. 'Poor thing must be scared of drowning.' She thought to herself, the piglet again struggling as she turned it over, wiping its stomach and undercarriage, the animal squealing again. Kasumi approached behind the older woman as she held it up, looking for if there was a cut or injury she had just washed to make it squeal so.

"Aunty, here is the hot water," the eldest Tendo's voice said gently, however the piglet panicked even more, struggling in Mrs Saotome's grasp.

"Thank you Kasumi-chan," the older woman replied before 'cooing' to the pet, her grip not giving even as she whispered for the piglet to calm down. When she grasped the kettle to pour over the animal, it got a hoof on her hand to spring free, the older woman lunging to hold on, only to t88ake the kettle and herself over the edge of the balcony.

* * *

The public restroom on the grounds of the fair were neat and clean, Akane going to work on removing the makeup on Ranma-chan's face as the red head kept one eye on the mirror, picking bits of confetti out of her hair and ear. A plastic cup of hot water from a tea vendor enroute to the restroom sat on the sink bench.

Her blue eyes looked into Akane's brown orbs and her actions slowed, still wiping the white makeup off his face with a paper towel, but now seeming to caress her skin, amusement tweaking her lips at some private joke.

Equally slowly, the red head picked up the cup, and taking it over her head, Ranma poured the hot water down, keeping his eyes on Akane's as he grew before her, gaining several inches in height. Raking his hand through his hair to flick out some of the water, he let Akane wipe the last of the make up off with the same slow deliberate touch she had been before. "Did you like my performance?"

She smiled and giggled some, here eyes showing how much she liked it, but even as she opened her mouth he knew she'd never say it. "You are such a show off."

"Hey, ya wanted me to put on a show, I put on the best."

"Only because you used your curse, otherwise that big mouth of yours was going to cost you again."

"No chance, I was only getting warmed up. You're just jealous that I could do that and you can't."

Her eyes flashed, "Ranma, I am not jealous of your Mime skills, or your big mouth, big mouth!"

Ranma's fighting instincts rose, but the RULES joined them. Akane is fired up, but that didn't mean she wanted to fight. She might want… him… somehow… or to do something… 'Big mouth…'

He reached out his hand to grab her shoulder, "Maybe not jealous, what about..." Her eyes widened as he leant towards her, letting her eyes close as she tilted up to him…

The giggles of girls made Akane open her eyes, finding herself alone as girls near her age entered, some going to cubicles while others came to the sink near her. Grabbing her stuffed pig to clear room for them, she hid her blush and washed her hands at the end sink.

One of the girls at the sink was applying make up while chatting to her friend, Akane had just enough presence of mind to pick out 'some boys from Furinken high are here' which led to more exacting makeup application as Akane dried her hands and rushed outside, calming at seeing a red faced Ranma trying to look casual across from the restrooms.

She strode over purposefully, pulling out the tickets she had one earlier at the coin toss. "What kind of movie do you want to see, big mouth?"

* * *

Nodoka thanked Kasumi as she passed the older woman another towel. One look from the Saotome matron had kept her husband and Soun from giggling like schoolboys at her expense, though she had the funny feeling they were more relieved about something than amused by her being knocked into the dirt, the kettle of warm water making warm mud that coated her dress. "Thank you Kasumi-chan."

"The Furo should be hot."

"Oh good. Please make sure if that pig shows up he doesn't tread mud into the house." She kept her annoyance with the animal in control, recalling how it had fled under the house as she had fallen.

Kasumi nodded politely, taking the muddy towel from Nodoka, before letting the older woman past her towards the bathroom.

Humming to herself, Nodoka closed the door to the change room and began to disrobed, calming herself of the last of her embarrassment at being left in an undignified heap by that piglet, letting it flow away from her. Wrapping a towel around herself, she opened the door letting the steam wash through the doorway, her mind idly wondering how her son's date was going…

"Urk!"

Her eyes widened in shock, the young man standing naked half way out of the bath, frozen in shock, steam obscuring his face but not his stocky body.

Slowly, she stepped back, closing the door.

When the door slammed open again, the Saotome matriarch was still in the towel, her hair down, the family sword out, "Sex maniac!" she cried at the empty room.

Her eyes latched on the shadow leaving the window, a bit of black and yellow stripped cloth on the tiles below it, and she ran back out the door to get outside quickly to try and catch the peeping tom.

* * *

The pigtailed boy led his date into the theatre for the afternoon showing, looking up the rows of chairs in the dim light, ignoring the weak music playing in the background. From the murky parts of his mind, his father's words about cinemas rose to the fore and he began to lead Akane towards the front rows, stopping as she didn't follow.

"What's up? You wanna go to the bathroom?"

Akane's frown deepened and he saw her frustration growing. "Let's sit up the back seats."

He returned her frown. "Why? I mean, they're free tickets and all, but Pop's always said if you gonna pay for a movie sit front and centre to get the full affect. Sit way back there and you may as well be watching TV."

Her eyes rolled as she took a deep breath, her brown orbs returning to look directly into his blue eyes. With slow deliberate words she asked a question, "Why exactly are you here, Ranma?"

"Er, to see the movie, with you."

Akane glossed over lack of firmness in his reply, happy with the ending answer and began to lead him up the back of the theatre, her blush returning. At the top of the stairs she had to yank him along again as he went for the centre row of seats while she chose the side.

Sitting beside his fiancée, Ranma wondered at how much worse the view from the back right was to the front and centre, his hand putting the drink they would be sharing in the arm rest holder between them and offering Akane the popcorn. At least it was a free movie.

Several more movie goers arrived, filling up the chairs as the lights dimmed a little more and the screen came alive with advertisements. Twice he brushed his hair away from his face, exactly as others came close in the darkness, slow actions to obscure his face more in the darkness. With his luck someone he knew from school would show up and start blabbing to everyone that he and Akane were on a date, and that'd stir up a storm of trouble. His mind idly imagined Kuno, his loony sister Kodatchi, Ucchan, and Shampoo all crashing through the screen. Certainly make it a horror film.

As the advertisements shifted from local business to upcoming attractions, another couple came up the stairs, taking the seats in their back row, just into the centre seats. His blue eyes rolled and his mouth opened, "You sure you want these seats? They're all couples up here."

Her brown eyes looked at his with mild irritation which softened as she shook her head, "Oh ha ha. Shush and watch the movie, baka."

It actually took a moment for his mind to comprehend what she had replied, as it tried to cope with yet another advance in the changes of his relationship with Akane. He had gone from them liking each other, to a date, to a couple, in very little time. Some part deep inside suddenly started questioning when he had volunteered for this 'couple' thing, but general consensus of the mind of Ranma Saotome wanted to see where this was going.

The movie credits rolled as the cinema was sunk further into stark shadows cast by projected images over the empty seats and heads of the movie viewers. As the characters began to play out the first scenes of the film, Ranma's attention waned, his body more focused on the shoulder to shoulder contact he had with his fiancée, and the way her fingers would brush his arm to reach for a few morsels of popcorn from the box resting on his leg.

Lifting the drink from the cup holder he took a sip from one of the two straws, Akane's hand snaking out of the darkness as he began to lower it, her pretty face emerging from the shadows beside him to draw some soft drink herself, his eyes tracking her lips pursing as she sucked at the straw. Her eyes looked at him as he watched her, and embarrassed he flinched to look back at the film, hearing a breathy cluck from her as the drink was returned to its holder.

In some poorly thought out way of justifying why she had caught him looking at her, he glanced the opposite way, his eyes focusing in on the silhouettes of the near couple watching the film, the outlines in the dark nearly one as the guy held her against his side with an arm around her shoulders.

Not really different than when he walked with his arm around her in the park or at the carnival, he felt pretty sure it wouldn't anger her to try the same, but suddenly the manner in accomplishing getting his arm around her had become… treacherous. He could just put it around her, but suddenly that felt too forward. With a flash of inspiration, the keen Saotome mind had a plan.

-yawn-

The actors had no need to fear for their jobs against Ranma Saotome as he feigned stretching his arms high with his feigned yawn. His arm slowed its descent around her shoulders as he heard breathy giggling from his companion, but as she leaned against him he completed the move, laying his arm around her neck and shoulder, hand on her arm.

They sat together in silence for several minutes, watching the plot try to advance some sort of suspense, but Ranma's tenseness was actually fading as he relaxed into this couple thing.

A tiny sound followed by breathy giggling came from the couple along the row, his eyes turning from the bright screen to see neither of their faces were directed at the screen, instead at each other, and though the shadowed heads were moving, they were a bit too close to be sharing quiet conversation. When the next soft kissing sound came Ranma's eyes were firmly on the screen.

It wasn't that kissing scared him, oh no, after all, they had kissed before, even if he didn't remember and she hated it. He felt that the kiss when he had been in his Cat Personality had never really counted, cause it wasn't wanted, like the kiss that letch skater had stolen from his girl form. His own experience with kissing was generally pretty one sided, either not remembering it or consistently being tricked into it. Suddenly it was important that this first kiss of them being a 'couple', was special.

Swallowing on a dry throat, he lifted the drink again, taking a sip from a straw, and trying not to spray it back as Akane's face came forward, taking up the other straw and drawing back on it with those pursed lips, her hand closing over his on the cup. Neither one actually drank as eyes watched each other from inches away for a long moment.

'Now!' reverberated in his head.

Tentatively he released the straw, and slowly began to close in on her face. Their hands lowered the drink together as their faces turned more towards each other.

"Not here…"

The urgent feminine whisper wasn't loud but it crossed to both of them, Ranma turning his head from Akane as she leaned forward to see past him to the near couple, the slender hand of the silhouetted girl pushing the boy's away from her torso. Murmured words passed between the couple, as Ranma looked again to the screen and Akane leaned back against his arm again. With sudden conscious awareness, he made sure the hand of the arm draped over her back and cupped her shoulder and wasn't dipping down into dangerous regions. When it came to anything like that, he had little doubt Akane's rejection would have been heard all the way back at the dojo.

Minutes past as a story progressed on the screen, before Ranma felt Akane move again. With a rather sudden movement, she rummaged in her bag and found the chocolate pocky box they had won earlier at the carnival, opening the box and offering him the first biscuit. With a whispered "thank you" he took the thin chocolate covered cookie stick and began to munch down on it. Soon enough three or four sticks had vanished from the small pack and he again reached for the soft drink, raising it to his lips, one eye scanning for if Akane was going to match him again. With a certain disappointment, she didn't.

As he returned the cup to its holder, he glanced at her again, seeing her watching him, a pocky stick held like a straw in her mouth, tipping up to point at his lips as he looked. Swallowing nervousness which didn't leave, he began to lean in as she matched him, taking the length of stick extending from her mouth in his and slowly moving up it.

The crack at the biscuit braking between them made them flinch like it had been a thunder clap, but glancing around no one was watching and he relaxed back, slumping further as he realised another moment had been broken. Two near times, and both blown, and he suddenly felt sure they were running out of movie.

He leant his head down to hers, "Pst, Akane, do you thi…"

His voice trailed off as Akane grabbed his chin with strong fingers and brought her face up to his.

"No,mmh, don't!"

Akane glared around him at the boy of the other couple, Ranma turning from his fiancée at the girl's muffled word, and the sight of her pushing her partners hands off her didn't help as he muffled her voice with his lips again.

"Buddy, she said no!" he hissed warningly, cracking his knuckles.

The boy backed off the girl, who looked with red faced horror at the pigtailed martial artist. "Ranma?"

Akane stood to look over Ranma in recognition of her, "Yuka?"

Daisuki sat back in his seat and tried to hide from Ranma behind his date, "Oh crap."

To be concluded…

Special thanks to MwhaleK, Paul Henkel, Rosedreams, Jamison Whithehead, Wheedle1, tendoakane3, and Sakurabana for proof reading and plot inspiring.

Thank you for reading.

Trent O'Donoghue


	3. Level 3, Advanced

Rules of the Games – Level 3 Advanced

Disclaimer: These characters are not mine. They belong to the wonderful Rumiko Takahashi and her licensees (Viz Communications in North America). This work is strictly for the non-profit enjoyment of fans. No copyright infringement is intended.

'Rules of the Games' is based upon a story idea by Tom Wrensch.

Last Updated: 19/12/05

The two teenage boys looked at the film poster, standing in an uncomfortable silence as they waited for the girls to return from the toilets. Both had spend an hour watching the film they had no real interest in, as the male half in an uncomfortable group of teens.

"So what does the lolly-pop have to do with it?" Ranma ventured, looking at the image in the poster.

"Er, I don't know. It had something to do with the mute girl I think, was there a lolly-pop in the beginning?" Daisuki said uncomfortably.

Ranma shrugged, his face growing hot. "I wasn't watching either."

The other boy turned on him. "So what happened to, 'Akane's a dorky tomboy', 'I'd nev…'" His quoting fell silent as Ranma's hand snapped in front of his lips fast enough to send a brush of wind passed his hair.

"Shut…"

The opening of the door to the ladies toilets in the corner of their eyes sent both boys into motion, facing the door, side by side, just two friends standing together, waiting for their other friends.

Both girls had red faces as they emerged from the bathroom, though each wore a sly smile as they walked up to the boys. Another uncomfortable moment of silence passed before Akane spoke, "Well, let's head home?"

Soon enough, the four of them were walking back towards the Furinkan area of Nerima ward, the boys trailing the girls as they began whispered conversation including much giggling.

With a hum, Ranma looked sideways at his classmate. "I think you got off light, Akane was not happy about you trying to force ya hands on Yuka like that. Yuka must of made her promise not ta hit ya."

"Nah, it wasn't like that. Yuka and I, we… She can't let me just do what I want, especially in a cinema, but she didn't really want me to stop. Trust me, when she wants to stop, Yuka, she'll shout it. Heck, couple weeks ago she caught me looking at some of Hiroshi's porn, hit me so hard I nearly blacked out."

The school boy looked at the distrustful face of the pigtailed boy. "It's like, its just like that dancing class we had to do for PE last month, you know how the guy had to lead but… some of the girls resisted?"

Frowning Ranma nodded, as between rain, no hot water, and Nabiki's meddling, he had been the most resistant of the girls to the leading of the boys.

"Er, it's like that, she wants me to lead, but only were she wants to go. Yuka's turned it into a game almost. If anything, I think she likes it just cause you and Akane do the same."

"Yeah," Ranma nodded slowly, thinking of Akane, his eyes glancing ahead to the girls as the short haired girl glanced back with a smirk and a giggle.

-1. The FEMALE always makes THE RULES, THE RULES are subject to change without prior notice.-

And each girl had their own rules.

"It ain't good when they giggle like that. Two girl's planning something…" Diasuki let his voice trail off as another thought crossed his mind, but the pigtailed boy murmured an agreement. He glanced at his friend, noting Ranma's inattention.

"So you kissed Akane in your girl form yet?"

That Ranma heard.

-Bop-

"Ow!"

* * *

The couple approached the gates of the Tendo home slowly, neither really eager to go inside. The whole day both relaxing, yet underlying with something very tense.

The pigtailed boy looked at his date as they passed under a streetlamp, his eyes tracing the skin of her bare arms in the cooling night air, the large pink pig toy he had won her in a plastic bag hanging from her wrist. His face and jaw tingled, from where she had grabbed him in the dark of the cinema, another failed try to kiss. Looking up, he saw the gates ahead, and beyond them could feel the ever present eyes of their families.

Time was up, and the end of the date was here. As she reached for the gate, he put his hand out to stop her, his confidence spiking as he caught a faint smile cross her pink lips. He stepped in, letting her face him so he could whisper down to her.

"I, I had a really good, great time today, Akane…-chan"

"That embarrassing mime stunt, ripping off some carnival workers, and seeing a bad movie? That's your idea of a great date, Ranma...?"

"You didn't like it?" Frowning, he began to move back, but her warm hand grabbed his, her fingers interlacing with his.

She smiled gently, her other hand taking his, linking fingers again as she stepped in close, looking up at him as he looked down. As he began to lower his face to hers, she leant back. "I had a great time pervert, but I'm not one of those girls who kisses on the first date."

Pushing his hands back onto himself, she turned and pushed on the gate, glancing back to wink and blow a kiss, her face shifting cold as she turned towards the house.

"Oh hello Akane, how was your date?"

His fiancés enraged voice rang out, "Who said anything about a date? That was not a date. In dates do you get in fights? Invite your dumb friends and then fight with them?" Capped with an indelicate and angry snort, he heard her feet pounding up the stairs.

Looking around the street, Ranma frowned at the empty street. "Great, am I supposed to go in now?"

* * *

Sneaking in, Ranma looked over the porch for the fathers, but the Go board was packed away. The shoji was closed but the blues of the TV lit the paper screens. Stepping up onto the wood, he moved for the kitchen when the voice came through from the main room.

"You're in luck Ranma-kun, Daddy has gone to bed and your parents have gone overnight," Nabiki called in a board voice. "You have time to work out the details of your little date."

"It wasn't a date," Ranma said automatically, opening the door to look at the older girl, sitting against the wall, her blue silk pyjamas clashing with the hot pink bunny slippers, watching the TV. Akane spoke up, entering the room from the hall.

"Aunty wanted to know if the Carnival would be fun, and it was, the end."

"Sure."

"The only thing that should interest you, is that Uncle knows a lot of tricks to get the best prizes at the side show games."

Her eyebrows rose, "So what did you win?"

"Ranma won a big pink piglet, which is really cute."

Nabiki glanced at the boy and smirked, "And you gave it to Akane so she has something to snuggle at night?"

Stomping her feet as she moved to her sister, Akane dropped to sit beside her. "So where did Uncle and Aunty go?"

With a shrug, Nabiki let Akane change the subject, but kept her eyes on Ranma. "Poor Aunty got a bit muddy this afternoon, but when she went for a bath, a pervert was in there."

"Happosai?" Ranma growled.

"Nope, sorry Ranma, some boy around our age, bare as the day he was born in our furo. She didn't get a good look at his face, but she's been crying 'Sex fiend peeped on me' most of the afternoon."

Ranma frowned, but Akane was faster, "Wait, it's the height of manliness for her hentai son to peep on me and every other girl, but it happens to her and its 'Sex fiend'?"

"That's right Akane, she's been telling everyone she can about it. All the while her summer kimono was loose and her hair was let down."

The older girl looked from Akane's confused face to Ranma, her eyes searching his. She looked back at Akane. "He's got no clue, have you worked it out? You don't think your fiancé gets all his pride from his spineless father do you?"

Akane blinked, then blushed, then looked at Ranma, and blushed again.

The boy shook his head in confusion, "So where are my parents?"

"Pervert," Akane said as she got up and stormed out of the room.

Still confused about what happened, Ranma just looked to Nabiki, who shook her head, "Here, a present from your Mom's sex fiend," she said, tossing him a tiger print bandanna.

* * *

Yawning, Ranma stepped into the bathroom, tossing his gi top away. Without his Pop to train with this morning, he didn't feel like he had gotten much of a work out at all.

The splash of water got Ranma's attention, his eyes on the closed door to the furo, looking down to see the sign was not out, and the shoes not beside the door.

Slowly, he swallowed. IF Akane was in there, and IF she had purposefully forgotten to leave her slippers or the sign beside the door, and IF this was another game...

He looked at the door for a moment, than turned slightly to look at the door out of here. Open the door to the furo, and become the pervert she always claimed him to be. If this wasn't one of these weird rules/games, she would be furious. If it was, then, then… and she'd fake her anger to chase him off. And if it was and he didn't peek, oh that would get her angry, too. Blinking, he visualised an Akane at each closed doorway, one in her gi, the other in soap suds, both holding mallets. The Akane in the gi mouthed the word coward.

Years of martial arts training began to shift the problem to personal combat, his eyes studying the doorway intently. Entering the furo was declaring himself a pervert, every time she said it would be true now, so either he had to make it not about being a pervert, or make her not say it. Like taking a blow to get past a defence...

Turning to the mirror, he took off his pyjama top and raked his hair into neatness, posing a few times, tensing his muscles. Walking for the door, he started pulling off his black muscle shirt, freeing one hand to open the furo door and enter. Timing it so his shirt over his face as he entered, he slowly pulled the material all the way off, holding back any smirk that she was too busy watching him to react.

"Let's start with a thousand yen for this interruption, ne Runma-kun?"

His head snapped around to her, his blue eyes wide as he stepped back seeing Nabiki in the furo, her head on her hands on the edge of the tub, her shoulders barely out of the water.

"Oh, now see, you looked at me in the bath, that's peeking. And this after what happened with your Mother? That's another five thousand… but I'll drop it to four for some beefcake shots of you later?"

"Sorry Nabiki!" he said, bolting out, slamming the door behind him. In a flash he was through the bathroom door and in the hall where his path was blocked.

Akane looked up at her fiancé as he almost bowled her over. "Are you done in the furo?"

His eyes opened wide at the slight pouty expression on her face, in her bathrobe with a towel on her shoulder. His ears twitched as he heard the furo door opening behind him, and he grabbed his fiancée with one hand, and the door to the linen closet with the other.

Suddenly in a dark closet with her fiancé, Akane opened her mouth when he put his hand over it, giving a quiet shush sound.

Outside in the hall, foot steps past, accompanied by a voice humming an old ABBA song.

Pulling his hand from her face, she whispered in the dark, "What did you do to Nabiki?" He heard the cogs even as he tried to phrase a reply. "In the bathroom… You pervert!"

"Hey, she didn't put out the sign. I didn't see anything, I swear!" he hissed back. "Thank the Kami I didn't, she charged me enough for it as it was."

Her hand touched his cheek even as she opened the door, letting in the light, eyes locking on eyes. Finally she pushed him back gently against the shelves. "I'm putting out the sign, pervert. At this rate, we're already going to be late."

The closet door shut on him leaving him, as ever, in the dark.

* * *

"Students, today we have the honour of hosting the St Bachas Boys High School Soccer team," the coach had been smiling gleefully since he had herded the boys from Ranma's class in with the soccer team. "Coach Hasegawa, who has trained the St Bachas team to four years of victories in the Nerima A grade and city championships, has heard about the great performance of our grade C team, and has honoured us with coming to train with us today and learn our unconventional tactics."

Most of the boys looked at Ranma, recalling the Soccer team hiring him through Nabiki. The unconventional tactics that had won them the Grade C cup was pretty much making sure they had an audience, giving him the ball and then returning to starting positions while he showed off. Still forty to nil in the finals had given them the chance to play against the weakest team of B grades to move up the grades. Fifty to nil in that game was also impressive, but without Ranma at that game they went in knowing they couldn't win against a B grade team.

The oblivious boy in question yawned while watching one girl among the others warming up over near the sports equipment shed.

A gleaming and shiny private school private bus pulled in the ground, Coach Myagi straightening his tie and sucking in his stomach as he waved the boys into orderly lines. The bus stopped, and immediately a tall Japanese man in a neat suit with a St Bachas High baseball cap on stepped out, looked around slowly and distastefully, before nodding sharply, and marching towards Coach Myagi. Behind him, rank and file like soldiers, the St Bachas Grade A soccer team marched off the bus and lined up. Even the smallest of the boys, each in his spotless blue and white soccer outfit, was larger than their biggest player, and the intimidating glare they gave drove the Furinkan players back a step, all except for one boy still watching the girls, now frowning as the girls took to looking at the new comers.

Glancing back to the coach when more than one of the girls saw he was looking at them, Ranma rolled his eyes as Coach Myagi began his team spirit speech and how they had to do their best for the sake of the school. The growling voice of the visitors coach talking to his team carried easily over, his words not unlike Ranma's father when trying to psych him for a fight or learning a new technique, but it held his attention.

"…to lose to a class C team? Unacceptable. You are the best, these children are not your equal, you must crush them. They may have a super player, but you are a team of super players. This is a training match, but for your honour it is not a game, or for fun. This is war, you must crush them like you did all opposition in this years competition…"

Frowning, Ranma glanced back up towards Akane. '…not a game… This is war…'

* * *

Sayuri sighed as she looked over the boys from the new school. Somehow she knew that they wouldn't be as lecherous as those at this school, and definitely cuter, and from wealthy families, and sick of stuck up rich girls…

Sighing at her little fantasy, Sayuri's eyes narrowed as she saw Yuka rushing to catch up to the girl's class, exchanging a nod and smile with Akane. She considered approaching her short haired friend and asking what they were up to when the coach called them around.

* * *

Rushing, Ranma heaved the last mat onto the pile, and casually tossed the sack of soccer balls into the corner. Entering after him, Diasuki smirked and tossed the next sack at the pigtailed boy, kicking a pile of score board plates along towards his feet. "You know, you're really lucky, man."

"How do you figure? Those sore-losers try to triple team me and I get to sit on the side lines for half the match cause I defended myself? Or is it how I get to pack this junk up? Now its five minutes into lunch, so which part of that is lucky?"

Shaking his head, Daisuki put his hands on the door. "Sure, like you didn't want this?"

Before Ranma could get out a 'Huh', the other boy slapped the light switch and stepped out, shutting the door on the boy, the room darkening but for a weak shaft of light from the one window barely illuminating the chamber. The pigtailed boy reached the door just as he heard the doors locks being worked, when the voice came from behind him.

"Baka?"

The soft feminine voice made him swing around, backing against the door. Kami, if Akane found him in here trapped with one of his other fiancées she'd… He frowned suddenly realising that only one girl called him idiot.

Shifted away from the door, he tried to be casual but as his body language changed from terror to the Saotome swagger, a giggle rose from the shadows. Her silhouette stepped out of the darkness, his minds eye filling in the details to the shadow, the tinge of blue to her hair, the yellow of her shirt, the pale cream of her thighs left bare by the dark boomers of her sports outfit.

The movement of a cloud from the sun brightened the light entering the window, illuminating half her face as she stepped in front of him, showing her slight smile as she looked up at him. The sound of the school friends talking, eating lunch or playing on the school grounds outside a world away from the pair of teens.

Swallowing, he leaned towards her, his hands extending as hers did, hers coming up to lay on his arms as his fingers rested on her hips. When he saw the movement of her throat, he felt the same nervousness in her as in himself. "Ya know, if my uncute fiancée caught us in here, she'd hit me thr…"

"Baka," she hissed to shut him up, a smirk reaching her cheek in the light, her hands moving up to his face, pulling him down, even as he stepped closer into her.

Lips met softly, brushing each other, parting, and brushing again. Slow movements became more firm, lips stretching, pushing, shaping, as they met and parted over and over. Hands gently shaped movements of heads, fingers sliding through hair, hot breath caressing cheeks or gasped over lips in brief partings of mouths.

Tiny steps, backwards for her giving to his advance, crossed back to the vault horse, the hard material holding her as he pressed on her, both breathing heavier as her hands caressed his back, one grabbing over his shoulder, pulling him down and her up as they continued to kiss over and over.

-Flash-

The room flashed with light, followed by a slight electronic winding sound. Ranma's eyes snapped open in time to make out the hand and camera darting out of sight from where it had been in the window.

"Camera!" he hissed, his face growing scared.

"Get it!" Akane growled, starting to straiten her hair and clothes even as he jumped for the window. She looked at the again empty window for a moment before giving a huff, "always the hard way."

Stepping up she yanked the door open, the old lock snapping.

* * *

The window for the equipment shed was well over the head of the average student, but without effort Ranma landed, glancing around for a suspect. His eyes narrowing on the one figure running away from the building, the short weedy build familiar despite the fact most times one overlooked Hikaru Gosenkugi. That he held a camera didn't plead his innocence either.

Hikaru looked up, gulping for air as he ran for the corner of the math building. If that cad Ranma or his loose girlfriend hadn't spotted him by then he would be able to wait for the precious polaroid in his hand to develop, then he could show it to Kuno to beat up Saotome while he then showed it to Akane Tendo, and they would be able to talk, together, about why she should dump such a two timing fool! His cheeks red, his legs began to buckle weak kneed at the thought of comforting her, as he reached the building and cover.

Turning the corner was surprisingly easy, as Ranma's hand grabbed his shoulder and dragged him around to pin the smaller boy to the building. "What is your problem!"

Ranma blinked as much as Hikaru did, surprised by the anger in his voice. His mind quickly reminded him that this boy had interrupted what felt like the first private moment he had had with Akane. And it had been good…

The short boy's face showed his fear, the eyes with heavy bags looking around the martial artist for any help around those now watching, his mouth working to find the words to placate this monster who had come into his life to steal his previously potentially available beloved, but no words made it out before the childish voice of authority intervened.

"Happo-go-en satsu!"

Ki flowed out from both boys, funnelling down into the small five yen coin held by the little girl nearby, the dark haired teacher growing tall and voluptuous, her dress stretching to contain her. She glared down at both drained boys lying on the ground.

"Mr Saotome, I will not tolerate delinquents abusing their school classmates."

Groaning on the ground, Ranma was still trying to recoup as the teacher stepped near, but failed again to sense the danger when she reached down, her lithe fingers deftly taking the polaroid from his hand. With a casual flick of her luxurious long hair, the beautiful and statuesque teacher looked at the picture.

"And what is this?"

Closing his eyes, Ranma's mind raced for something to tell her, some excuse to make her not show anyone else, or worse, show it to Akane's father who she had a major crush on. Old man Tendo would likely frame it, label it 'the marriage ceremony' and file the no doubt filled in paperwork of their marriage with the government. A croak from the incapacitated Gosenkugi laying near spurred him into action, his hand covering the other boy's mouth as he looked up at the teacher, his blue eyes opening, and his own voice croaked when the polaroid was showing him was grey, the chemicals still developing.

"Hikaru's a delinquent peeping tom. Look, here's his camera."

An experience teacher, Ms Hinako Nyomia's first instinct when faced with the claim by the schools most notorious delinquent, holding closed the mouth of the boy he was accusing, was not to trust him, but when she looked at the camera she had seen the boy with before she knew that Ranma hadn't taken this grey picture, especially since Ranma was far from the most technologically literate students. Then the pigtailed boy hit the button on the camera.

-Flash-

Snatching the developing polaroid from his teachers hand, he left the camera in its place as it spat out a new photo, the pigtailed boy stumbling up and away, leaping a bush and dodging around student spectators of his detainment by his teacher, tumbling over some junior students still eating, he cart-wheeling between a bench and a tree, bouncing over a boken…

"Halt, Saotome!" cried Tatewaki Kuno, swiping with his wooden blade. "Yonder Underclassman may be a shallow and worthless soul, but he has claimed to have proof for me this meal time of your philandering on the spirited Akane Tendo and fiery Pig-tailed girl. Deny it not that proof be in your hand, but give it forth so the world may know your lechery and evil."

Dodging another swipe, Ranma leapt back, landing on his feet in a low stance balanced by his free hand, holding the picture protected against his shirt. "Will not, is not, and won't do that neither! Kuno, it ain't your business, and this picture don't show nothin, least of all me cheatin, on Akane."

Charging, the kendo master swiped again with his blade, "You think your lies would find worth in mine ears or that of others. Surrender scoundrel, and accept your punishment, enemy of women!"

"I ain't the enemy of women!" Ranma cried in vain as he dodged under another series of strikes. Suddenly his blue eyes narrowed and he blocked the older boy hard, stepping with speed into his face. "Listen Upperclassman Kuno, I'm trying to protect the reputation of a friend of Akane's. If you keep trying to fight you are ruining her reputation, you are the enemy of women. What would Akane think of you then?"

Kuno held his blade in position, half way through the strike where Ranma had blocked it at, his feet carrying him back from the pigtailed boy. "My dearest Akane seeks to protect one of her lesser friends?"

"You got it, Kuno."

"Aha! Your lies give you away, for my beloved would of course bring such a delicate and intimate request to my own peerless hands!" Slashing with his blade once more, he drove Ranma back. "Whatever loose woman that picture reveals you with will be your wife! I will make it my life's work, animal Saotome!"

Again dodging back, Ranma cursed whipping out some kicks to keep the wooden blade off him till he worked out what he should do. When the tanned hand snatched the photo from his hand, he turned to snatch it right back, only to be caught by Kuno for his inattention, the powerful blow sending him back, nearly knocking over a junior boy, as it was knocking his bag from his hand, pens and books spilling on the ground.

"Well now keiki, no wahines be datin' no bruddah in this school. Dis wahine gettin a buzz cut!"

The bright yellow Hawaiian shirt with bright purple flowers veritably shone in the sunlight, making the tan of the elder Kuno seem darker and many envious of his sunglasses. The palm tree rising behind his head only gave shade to the dark hair of the Principal himself.

Crossing the distance would have taken too long to get back from where Kuno had hit him, Ranma watched as the school headmaster brought the picture up, he cried out one last chance.

"Kuno, stop him, it's a picture of the Pigtailed girl nude!"

The two Kuno's looked eye to eye for a moment of pure motionless connection, then hands whirled, wooden blade slashing as steel clippers countered, the pair clashing once, then twice, the third bursting with wood shavings, the boken disintegrating against the hair dresses tool in a strike that sent Kuno reeling.

"Ha ha little Keiki, you getting better, but you no Big Kahunna yet," The elder Kuno boasted, twirling his shaver before moving to pocket it like cowboy holstering a six-shooter, his other hand raising the polaroid once more.

"Oi! Pineapple head!" Ranma cried, the teenager rushing in, his hands reaching for the polaroid even as the elder man pulled back out his chosen weapon, but as they closed Ranma bit on the end of the pen he had picked up, breathing hard into the shaft. Blue ink jetted out, the Principal crying out as it coated his face. His opponent blinded, Ranma snatched the photo and ran.

"Did someone say nude?"

Skidding to stop before running over the midget master of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts, and a master of most things perverted, Ranma back peddled his blue eyes wide and wary on the bald old letch. Puffing on his pipe, Happosai smoothed his moustache with one hand, his voice wanting to make the pigtailed boy want to clean his ears. "Now Ranma, you might be my heir and I do spoil you, but are you going to just give me that picture for my collection or are we going to do this the hard way?"

"You spoil me? Like when? You ain't getting this and it ain't nude or nothin!" Ranma said, backing away as the old man advanced.

"Last chance, boy, you -make- me take it and I've got a lovely bra for you to try on while your out."

Cringing at the lacy garment held by the tiny old man's wrinkled hand, Ranma took another step back, glancing to the right to gauge the terrain of escape, but once again a tanned hand appeared from his left and snatched the polaroid again.

Turning around with a growl of frustration, the elder Kuno, his face blue except for the outline of sunglasses around lightly tanned eyes, put a coconut in his arms, then laid his unconscious son Kuno over it.

"Take care of my liddle boy, dat's a good Bradaha."

Ranma blinked at the enigmatic words, panic rising as the Principal ran, students standing around watching now diving for cover. The pigtailed boy dropped the kendoist, pulling his arm to throw the coconut,

-Boom!-

* * *

"But why won't you go out with me?"

"Stupid Mousse be quite, Ninja-girl watching."

The purple haired girl rode on her bicycle passed the close 'Ucchan's Okonomiyaki' restaurant, her eyes on the powerful sexually confused figure within. Wearing a kimono, the Japanese girl Konatsu was strong enough to challenge her Airen, and her great grandmother had given her a warning about challenging this girl.

"Shampoo, who cares if some girl is watching? Just one date with me, at least I want to date you, Saotome made his choi… URK!"

The purple haired girl whipped her bike around to grab the on foot pursuer, her fingers gripping his neck as she slammed him into a wall. "He no choose."

The Chinese girl snapped her head around, matching eyes with the girl in the restaurant window, the picture of demure young lady in her traditional kimono, but her eyes on the pair. She looked back at Mousse, letting him drop but gripping the front of his robes to hold him up.

"Mousse want date? One date, if beat up…"

-Boom-

A distant thump of artificial thunder made her stop, looking towards the high school. Shampoo frowned, wondering what would prompt the use of bombs at the school, the wedding coming to her mind.

Mousse dropped when his beloved released his robes and shot off on her bike, "Wait Shampoo," he called, "Who do I have to beat up?"

From the window of the resteraunt, Konatsu eyed the pair leaving, feeling the desire to pursue, but he was forbidden to go to the school, after last time he tried to escort his boss. Ukyo-sama had been very upset at his presence, even though all those boys thought he was a new student in his school girls uniform, they were so nice to him, many wanting to see him that Friday night...

* * *

Tossed aside by the blast of the coconut bomb, Ranma got unsteadily to his feet as he shook his head to clear the ringing, his eyes looking for where the Schoolmaster had gotten to.

-Boom!-

"Aoweee!"

"That's right amateur, now give me the picture."

"The big kahuna can't be lettin no bad old mans be preyin on his students, even dat bad wahini boy Saotome."

The sounds of the pervert and demented warring set him on course, but as he jumped over some seats and spectators still watching this battle, he froze up and nearly fell in landing.

"HAAhahahahahahaha! Now what have we here? Father really, playing in the muck with the servants? Is it any wonder my brother gets no respect at this pitiful institute?"

As intent as Happosai could be on a picture of a nude girl, a live one in a leotard, that was adding up to four new senses to the fun, and the leotard could come off. "Ah pretty lady! Your father was attacking me. It's so good of you to comfort me!"

A distraction was a distraction, and Ranma charged in, snatching up the polaroid, ignoring the 'Eeks' and cries from Kodatchi or the thumps of impacts as she attempted to defend herself. But it was as he moved to run off that she said something that did stop him. "Ranma-sama, help me, Please!"

With a cringe, he turned and assessed their positions, the Black Rose backing away from the old pervert, his fingers wiggling as she threw baton after baton at him. With a sigh, he took a breath. "Panties!"

The old man looked back with raised eyebrows, the eyes narrowing when he didn't see any alleged panties, only that whelp Ranma, who once again had his polaroid. As black ribbon lengths coiled around the aged master, he realised the whelp thought he had the last laugh on this.

Kodatchi howled with laughter, sending many cringing, before depressing the brand new stud on the haft of her ribbon, sending a burst of voltage down the thread, forcing a melodic cry from this perverted letch who had been trying to touch where no man but Ranma-sama was destined to touch! She frowned as all too soon the power ran out, leaving the victim silent and smoking, but shrugged it off, she'd need to talk to Sasuke about extending the batteries.

Cringing at the Black Rose's laugh, Ranma took a step back when she electrified the pervert. It would only slow the old goat down, but Ranma felt his wrist tingle knowing the weapon had been meant for the Black Rose's gymnastic nemesis, the pig-tailed girl. Winding up, Kodatchi swung the pervert around her on the ribbon like a sling and with a flick of her wrist, released, sending the midget missile far into the horizon, laughing all the while.

The instant that she stopped watching the pervert fly, Ranma knew he should have been long gone, as the obsessed dark haired loon turned back to him.

"Oh Ranma-sama, so handso- Father!"

The tanned hand again appeared at the side of Ranma's vision, reaching for the polaroid, this time the boy warned just ahead of it, as he ducked down, falling forward in a roll to kick up at the blue faced well tanned man, pigtail avoiding the shears by a finger-width. Snatching the clippers to disarm the Hawaiian shirt wearing loon, he continued the roll bouncing to his feet before rushing back at the elder Kuno, grabbing him and twisting him around.

Working the clippers handles together in his hand, he held them near the short hair of the elder Kuno. "Would you like to be bald…" Then he ducked.

"Happo-go-en-satsu!"

Ki swirled around, funnelling again into a coin as Ranma held the principal between him and his teacher, mentally calming to withhold his battle aura and keep his strength from Hinako.

As the attack faded, Ranma let the now gaunt schoolmaster fall aside like a man sized bit of beef-jerky in a bright floral shirt. He looked to his teacher, ready for the angry beauty to return her absorbed energy like a cannon if he wronged her again, but seeing Ukyo beside the teacher made this situation much tougher.

"Er, yo, thanks teach. I got the photo back from these jerks, er, delinquents. Thanks for the assist."

Ms Hinako was not one to fall for the Saotome grin, but praise in taking out delinquents was so rare that the leggy brunette was still stalled.

Ranma Saotome's cute fiancée however, was not. "Ran-chan, what is going on? Gosenkugi's claiming you were in the sports shed kissing a girl and that photo is the proof!"

Looking around in a panic, Ranma's his eyes narrowed, he had to go on the offensive. "Er, look, I, Someone was in the PE shed with his f-girlfriend, but I'm just trying to stop jerks like Gosenkugi from interferin'. Would you like it if someone had a photo of us kissing?"

Ukyo blinked, "Of course!" Whipping around to her teacher, her long brown hair suddenly loose from its bow, her hand snatching Gosenkugi's polaroid camera from Ms Hinako's hand as she rushed towards her fiancée. Ranma's mind got part way to 'Huh?' when the okonomiyaki chef latched one hand around his neck, her other hand holding the camera pointed at them as she pulled them together.

The black ribbon looped around the waist of the red shirted boy, yanking him free of his fiancée before Ukyo could set the pose of her photo. "Hahahohohohhohoho, to think that he would want the image of his kiss sullied by your brutish face and dry lips. Come Ranma-darling, taste these lips full of desire."

Struggling inside the bonds, Ranma looked around at the crowd of spectators seeing none moving to help. One limber leg came up to hold back the Black Rose, "Er, no camera."

She pouted cutely. "Let these plebeian students record out first kiss in their minds."

"BAKA!"

The mallet caught him full in the chest, driving him away, twirling like a top as the ribbon unwound him. Flipping over and counter-spinning, he tried to regain his sense of balance to face the three girls again, one in a black leotard, one in a Furinken boys uniform, and the last in the Furinken girls school uniform, each now arguing and calling each other names. Finally one voice rose over the others.

"HE WHAT?"

The owner turned on him in a swirl, her body radiating anger as she ran at him hammer raised. "You two-timing jerk!"

"Eep" his legs were already running before he fathomed that Akane couldn't really be angry, could she?

A throwing spatula sailed passed him, and he leapt the black ribbon reaching for him as feminine voices called for him.

"Ran-chan, give me that picture!"

"Ranma-sama, tell them it was me in the picture!"

"Delinquent."

"I know where you live Baka, don't -jump- away from me?"

The inflection was still angry but he caught it and obeyed.

"Happo-go-en-sen coin return!"

Leaping over the blast of ki from his teacher as Akane had warned him, Ranma darted around the corner of the building ahead, knowing that those girls weren't going to stop till they got him. He needed… he needed a plan to keep them from the polaroid…

Just then he looked up, his eyes meeting the brown haired girl's as he ran at her. She held up two fingers.

Bout the only thing Ranma Soatome liked about Nabiki Tendo, was she was uncomplicated. Each finger meant one thousand yen. He nodded and she twisted her waist to the side, the bag on her back open, a brown ledger book hanging half out, slightly ajar, perfect for hiding something thin in.

With a flash of movement, he placed the polaroid and ran on, glancing back to see her facing his pursuers and pointing them towards him, and hence away from the polaroid. Again turning left ahead of his pursuers, he looked for open ground to end it, when his pursuit again rounded the corner and projectiles began flying after him.

"Ranma-darling, my mansion is back that way."

"Stop Ran-chan."

"Don't you dare destroy that polaroid Ranma."

"Stop delinquent."

With a quick side step, he did.

All four pursuers and the fastest of the spectators following all stumbled to a stop as the target stopped on the spot. Ranma had hands up, waving them to stop. "Er, sorry. I ate it."

"You ate it? With the same lips you were cheating on me with, jerk?"

Opening his mouth and shaking his head, his eyes were on Akane as she stormed ahead of the others, a slight smile tugging at her lips, her soft lips, warm lips, that tasted like…

-smack-

She hit the burgeoning smile off his face. "If it wasn't you, who was it?" she demanded in a loud voice before grabbing him and pulling his face beside hers, whispering into his ear. "Just pretend to whisper idiot."

Obediently, he whispered gibberish, and like a light switch Akane backed away, her stance meek. "Oh, sorry I hit you Ranma."

The crowd around them saw the anger leave Akane and knew that today's lunch entertainment had ended, some already heading back to their own activities, but Ukyo wasn't among them, "Who?" she demanded of the pair.

Ranma frowned as Akane leaned up to Ukyo, whispering to her, the Chef's cheeks reddening. "No way, really?" her long hair brushed around her shoulders as she looked around as if hoping to see someone.

Her face losing all of its haughty countenance, Kodatchi ran ahead, nearly tripping over the smaller Ms Hinako, both rushing with eyes filled with the hunger for gossip. "Who who?"

Ukyo leant towards them before Ranma grabbed her arm, "This is meant ta be a secret."

Blushing at her near accident, the chef shook her head at the pair of girls, Kodatchi shifting back and tall, as if her nobility was above such gossips. "You may give this to the happy couple," she said loftily, placing a large bouquet of black roses in Ukyo's hands. Akane snatched it up and threw it aside, the flowers puffing out a purpled gas when it hit the ground.

"How dare you harridan!"

"Who are you, anyway?"

The dark haired daughter of the Kuno line looked down at the child teacher, the small girl rotating a five yen coin in her hand.

"Why I am Kodatchi Kuno, Ranma Saotome's true love and the daughter of your boss."

Akane shook her head and squatted down close to the teacher's height. "Ms Hinako, this girl isn't a member of our school, doesn't that make her a delinquent truant?"

Drawing her clubs, Kodatchi stepped towards the youngest Tendo, "I could own this sch…"

"Delinquent!" Hinako cried, bringing her coin up and draining the girl in the leotard.

Ukyo turned from the teacher picking up the fallen rival, looking at Ranma. "So you ate the picture?"

"It's gone."

"Pity, would have been good to see." Akane said, slightly red faced. As Ukyo nodded, Ranma felt his own face heating. He tried to hold it back, thinking of the yen he lost by not thinking to just rip it up himself. Once again, Nabiki had got one over him…

Both girls looked at the boy in concern as he went absolutely white in the face, then turned and ran off so fast it was hard to follow where he went.

* * *

Slightly out of breath from the running, Nabiki pushed open the door to the roof, rushing lightly past a few students up having lunch. The end of the school building was deserted and she jogged over, her fingers drawing the book out of her bag.

"Now lets see what is it Saotome has me guarding," she said idly to herself. "Can't be Ranma has a girlfriend? Please, the dope was most likely jumped by Shampoo. Still, I can work with that."

Opening it, she let the pages open naturally to the foreign item and reached for it, but when the door to the roof nearly burst off the hinges, she slammed the covers shut again. Looking up, she saw Ranma stalking towards her.

"Give it back Nabiki."

"Not till I get my money, and that's the two thousand, the five from this morning, and all previous debts."

His steps faltered, but he shook his head. "I need it now."

"You had a need to protect it from your harem, I supplied a service. You are unable to pay and want to avail yourself of more of my services? Even you should be able to understand how that is bad for my business."

Cracking his knuckles, he stepped towards her. "No games Nabiki, give me that book."

"Oh dear, my Sister's fiancée uses his martial arts to beat up women?" She smirked as she saw his form falter again. "Come on, we are one day going to be future family. You can trust me to do what's best with it."

His frown suddenly changed to a smirk, his hand pulling out the Principal's clippers, working the action on them meaningfully. "You give me that book, or the principal's giving me all A's at your expense."

The brown haired girl stepped back, her back hitting the railing around the roof top, but she quickly retook control of herself. Slowly, she nodded, a slight smirk on her lips. "That, dear brother, is a credible threat from you. I was afraid this day would come, that I'd have to give you at least passing respect, but here it is, so how about we deal with this like adults?"

Sitting down so her back was against the railings, making sure her skirt preserved her modesty, she motioned for him to sit beside her. Her fingers deftly retrieved a pencil and opened the ledger book to a blank page, but not that containing the polaroid. Her hand started to dance the pencil over the page faster than he could of read it, especially since he was trying to read it upside down.

"Okay Saotome, I know this is your first time, so I'll be gentle on you and give you some tips."

Blinking, Ranma pocketed the slippers and began to sit down. "er, Okay."

Her brown eyes looked at his. "Now then, what we have here are two columns, each lists what we want out of our future business relationship. So under you I have put clearing of debts, spending money, this polaroid back, and some control over your image."

"I just want that picture back."

"No Ranma, you want all those things, and more, the picture is just your priority. The last one you probably haven't thought about at all Ranma, but trust me you want it." As he went to speak again, she held up her hand. "I'll put this in terms you can understand - A negotiation is a lot like a martial arts fight Ranma, that photo is your weak spot, an opening, and if I attack to keep it, I can force your into concessions on other issues."

Ranma's shoulders slumped and he saw a smiled tug at her lips.

"On my side of the list, we have my desire to make money by selling photos of you, my desire to collect debts owed me by yourself and others, my desire to know if you were two timing my sister…"

"No I wasn't, er, not that I'd…"

With a smug smirk she picked up her pencil and put a line through some scribbles on her side of the ledger. "Thank you Ranma, but now I have something I want from you, for free. I struck a feint at another of your weak spots and got the better of you for it. This is why it's important to know what's your opponent wants, so that when you give them what they want you make sure you're getting something you want out of it."

-4. The FEMALE is never ever wrong.-

Once again, the rules were working out right.

"Now then, let's have a look at this photo and we can see what the market value is to each of us."

As her hands moved to turn the page, he pushed his hand onto it to hold it closed. "No, that's something you want, ain't it? Just to even look at it?"

Her eyes flashed darkly before her expression changed to amused, "Very good Ranma, this is where it comes to the negotiations. What do you have to offer to make me want to give up my duty of protection of this item, let alone not take a look at it as I do?"

Breathing out slowly, a rush of thoughts were churning in his head. He had seen her hunger of curiosity when denied looking at the polaroid, and that was her weak spot. She wasn't going to not look at that photo no matter what he offered.

'A negotiation is a lot like a martial arts fight Ranma'

'I struck a feint at another of your weak spots…'

Like a battle, if you can't avoid a blow or stop it, go with it.

"Alright, you can look at it."

She smiled and moved to turn the page but his hand still held it down.

He waited for her eyes to darken. "But ya gotta promise, really promise, that you will help keep their relationship a secret?"

His eyes widened as hers narrowed, he could see the wheels turning.

"I just took a beating from Akane and every other loon around here to protect it, I ain't gonna let ya ruin it for them."

Nabiki smirked and nodded, "I hope your getting paid for this Ranma, I promise I'll keep it secret."

Her smirk failed as she saw the glee in his eyes despite his stony expression as he pulled his hand back hastily.

She looked at the polaroid.

Hesitantly he reached out and took it from her limp hand, turning it over, his blue eyes looked at the image, opening wider seeing how clearly obvious it was as to the identity of the couple embracing. His eyebrows rose further, 'I don't remember my hand on her…'

-boot-

The dark red eyed shadow of the middle Tendo girl stood over his sprawled form, radiating anger like a furnace, lips twisting, seeking the right words.

-5. If the FEMALE is wrong, it is due to a misunderstanding, which is a direct result of something the MALE said or did wrong. The MALE must apologise immediately for causing such misunderstanding.-

The heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes, unleashed a move he never thought he would use. The powerful Saotome technique: the Crouch of the White Tiger! "Nabiki, I'm sorry!"

Like a wave of water, the pathetic apology rose from the prostrating figure before her, splashing over Nabiki's rage, rendering it impotent, her humiliation soothed by his self degradation. With a grimace the older girl, glared down at him, "We are going to negotiate modelling sessions Ranma. Those two too." She added, reaching to tap the polaroid.

"Er Sure," he said, before twisting his wrist as she tried to snatch back the polaroid. "Sorry Nabs, but I got to destroy…"

-Ring Ring-

-Crash-

Shampoo's bicycle slammed into the pigtailed boy, grinding him along the cement of the rooftop area.

"Airen! Shampoo hear explosions and come to help, but told you kissy kissy other girl. Who other girl! Shampoo kill and then Airen kiss Shampoo?"

Ranma groaned rather unhelpfully, Shampoo's front bicycle tire on his chest where Akane's mallet had caught him, but sprang alert when he saw his hand was empty. Pushing the wheel off him, he rolled free from under her transport, eyes scouting out picture. His eyes spotted it, even as both Nabiki and Shampoo did, the three ducking forward, when a blur of white swept through the trio, Ranma pulling up in time to not join Nabiki and Shampoo in sprawling together.

The pigtailed boy looked up at the figure standing proudly on the wire fence that surrounded the school building roof. The tall Chinese boy in white robes looked down contemptuously on Ranma, sweeping his long black hair back over his shoulder, he held up the polaroid between his fingers. "So Saotome, your philandering with Akane Tendo or some other floozy will be proven and Shampoo, devastated by your cheating will be forced into my loving arms?"

"Mousse, you want Shampoo, have her. But if don't give me back that photo, I'll…"

The threat was cut off as Mousse produced a mega-phone from his sleave and held it to his mouth, holding up the polaroid to look at it. His shoulders dropped, and he looked at the pigtailed boy with disappointment. "It's out of focus?"

Shampoo and Nabiki held their ears as the high powered megaphone magnified his question many times, but the pigtailed boy rushed forward, tackling the Chinese boy straight off the roof before the dope realised his glasses were still on his head.

* * *

"It's out of focus?"

Akane, Ukyo, Yuka, and the rest of the school turned to look at the main building hearing Mousse's booming voice, many gasping as a red shirted blur tackle the white robed boy off the edge, both falling fast.

The two girls had barely started moving when the boys impacted, a plume of water jetting up as they hit the school pool. Running through other students, the girls got to the waters edge, red haired girl Ranma ravaging through Mousse's white robes, sending weapon after weapon to the bottom. Now a white duck, Mousse paddled quietly but quickly on the surface, his wings flapping to try to take off, the white square of the polaroid in his beak.

"I thought Ran-chan destroyed that photo?" Ukyo said, looking concerned at Yuka, who in turn was looking concerned at a pale Akane.

"Who cares? Stop him!"

The two martial artists rushed along the waters edge, even as the Saotome 'girl' took similar note of his goal, the red head going under the water, a red blur of a shark in pursuit.

Coming even with the bird, Ukyo lashed with her giant spatula, the large blade's surface area well larger than the animals body, the clang of impact followed by a second as Ranma tore from the water in pursuit and piled into the blockade.

The youngest Tendo daughter reached to grab the red head's pigtail, as Ukyo scooped up the duck with spatula one handed, the other hand reaching to help with the boy/girl, both glancing for the polaroid.

-Ring Ring-

Wrenching her female fiancé from the water, Akane leapt clear, rolling on the grass into the pool area fence, as Shampoo landed her bike with a heavy thump before Ukyo where the youngest Tendo had been.

"Who too too stupid to kiss Shampoo husband?" she declared, pointing her bonbori, one at Ukyo, and one at the tumble of arms and legs that included Akane.

Shaking her head, Ranma tried to focus and get her bearings, quickly realising she was soaking and all over a nearly as soaked Akane. The girl below her began to push up and out from under as she did, her hand brushing her chest.

"Letch! Get off me you jerk!"

Springing free, the red head glared at Akane, "Me? You moved under my hand!"

"Ran-chan, what was that photo? You said you ate the one of…"

"Shush! Don't say who!" The red haired cursed girl rushed over, looking around the edge of the pool, even as pulled his pockets inside out and flapped his sodden shirt incase it was inside it. "This photo I got from Nabiki. Do you see it?"

The two girls, and then Akane moved over, looking around, Ranma grabbing Mousse's limp duck form off the spatula, searching the wing feathers for the missing polaroid.

"What photo of? Shampoo very mad if husband caught…"

"That photo," Nabiki said walking through the group with a casual air only slightly ruined by the deep breathing after running down the stairs to get here, "Is of a boy who owes me a lot of money. Unfortunately, Ranma hasn't been caught doing anything today Shampoo so you can put your toys and pride away."

The older girl looked Ranma-chan over, "I assume that our earlier business issue is 'under wraps'?"

With a fiant reddening of her cheeks, the red head nodded.

"Then its time I got to class," she turned but then glanced at Ranma again, then Shampoo. "Do me a favour and stop throwing bombs at him, you too Ukyo, it seems to make him smarter."

Three confused girls looked at the retreating Nabiki, one finally turning and stuffing fowl Mousse bodily into her fast food delivery box and remounting her bike. "Airen come visit Shampoo, have hot water, make Ranma man."

The red head and two teeth grinding girls watched the Chinese girl ride off, before the three turned and followed the withdrawing student body who had been audience to the fighting.

Darting through the gate, Ranma turned back to the girls, "I got to get some lunch."

-Rrriiinnnggg-

The two girls giggled at the dejected look on the girl's face at the bell ending lunch and signalling a return to classes. The red head turned away and walked straight into a wall, named Hibiki.

The two girls walked straight past Ranma as his friend grabbed her by the shirt, glaring intently.

"See you in class Ran-chan."

"Don't be too long," Akane added, glancing at Ukyo. "After all of today, he's on his own."

"RANMA! It's All Your FAULT Your MOTHER Thinks I'm A SEX FEIND!"

Gasping for air and struggling in the grip on her constricted shirt, the red head tried to speak but couldn't.

"She SCRUBBED My…!"

Ranma slapped a hand over his mouth and pointed at the returned audience, including Ukyo and Akane who had turned around and now looked open mouthed at the pair, waiting for an explanation.

* * *

"So what happened with Ryoga?"

"I got him to the train station but he wandered off before I could put him on a train to Akari."

With an odd smirk, her brown eyes looked at him, "Is he the boy who peeked on your mother?"

"Yeah, somehow he got lost when bathing and ended up in our furo. Hopefully Mom doesn't cut anything off him next time they meet," the pigtailed boy said, looking down at P-chan in the arms of his fiancée.

The girl gave him an odd smirk and shook her head, "From what Nabiki said, Akari might have some competition for Ryoga."

"Ack!" Ranma said, nearly stumbling. He stepped off the fence and landed beside Akane, "Don't even joke about that or we can go back to school and bring Ms Hinako to dinner."

Sticking her tongue out at her fiancé, Akane giggled and kept leading them home. "Well at least P-chan can have a new girlfriend tonight, little R-chan."

Ranma clucked his tongue in amusement, then eyed the confused piglet visualising the bandanna wearing pig beside the larger stuffed pink pig toy, "Well they're about as smart as each other."

Her brown eyes flashed darkly, "This from a boy who couldn't work out to destroy that photo till I told him to?"

He met her gaze, "You said get it, I got it. You said you wanted to see it, I kept it. If you want, I can rip it up now?"

"You kept it?" she hissed, looking around, then dragging him into an ally between a shop and a house, pinning him to the wall with her forearm. "Where is it?"

He grinned at her, "I had to hide it. I can't get it out, out here." He gestured around the public location.

Frowning, Akane looked at him, his bag, then back at him. She looked vaguely disgusted by the thought, "Where did you hide it?"

"Not where you're thinking," he said, sticking his tongue out, only to find his lungs compressed by her forearm pushing him into the wall. "Okay, but if I get it out here, you would SO call me a pervert."

"You're a pervert anyway, hurry up and get it out."

"I ain't a," he began but the glare he received carried message saying this wasn't the time for that argument. With a smirk he fished her bag from her hand and P-chan from the crook of her arm, freeing her other arm. With one hand, he purposefully adjusted his pants, "How about you get it out?"

She blinked at him, then flushed embarrassed, then enraged, then washed straight to icy anger. "Just because we are…"

"It's in your bra."

She blinked at him again, flushed and turned away, awkwardly opening her blouse and fumbling a hand inside. "Why is it in my bra! How is it in my bra!"

Looking to from one end of the ally to the other, he shrugged, not really paying attention to the fact she wasn't looking at him. "I could hardly hide it on me if I had to keep fighting, where better than you?"

"Why my bra?" she complained as she pulled the offending item out and looked at it. Turning, she smiled ruefully at him, "Pervert."

He glanced up at her eyes, "Hey, you're the one with your shirt open."

With a flush, she spun back and started doing up her buttons, "I was talking about in the photo you letch!" she turned back to find he had his hand over P-chan's eyes while he again looked to the ends of the ally. Grabbing the piglet and the bag, she started to stalk off. "It's not his eyes that need covering, pervert. Let's get home."

Following behind, he leapt to the fence as she rounded the corner, her words echoing in his ears.

Two 'pervert' accusations, one angry, one… fun?

Two situations, one she is unaware, the other… well she'd have felt his hand for sure.

Coach Hasegawa's words came to him, '…not a game…' 'This is war…'

A war was a series of battles or fights, with victory and defeat, winners and losers. A game, a game was meant to be fun, victory was fun, but in a game, the journey was fun, so defeat wasn't to lose.

He looked at the girl again and smirked, "Hey Akane, you remember when I showed you P-chan was a boy and I said he's a pervert. You didn't see him leering down your shirt just then, but I ain't gonna have my fiancée sleeping with some pervert anymore."

"And what are you going to do about it, letch?" she demanded, eyeing him up, a mixture of challenge, questioning, and nervousness in her eyes.

Looking around the emptied street, he jumped down beside her and put an arm around her gently. "I'm going to sneak in after dark and make sure that P-chan knows that even if we aren't married yet, that's no longer his spot."

She looked ahead, fighting the smile on her face. "You hurt my piglet and I'm going to be mad."

"I'm not worried, I'll just give you a little lip service." He puckered his lips.

She giggled even as she jabbed him in the ribs and walked on towards their home.

The End.

Yay! I finished a chaptered fic! Not an end full of closure by any means, but neither is a good game with the one you love.

I've been told that St Bacchas is another name for St. Hebereke, which is Kodachi's girls school. I left it in place as the boys school name because I couldn't come up with any better a name. If I do I will change it.

Special thanks to MwhaleK, Paul Henkel, Rosedreams, Jamison Whithehead, Wheedle1, tendoakane3, and Sakurabana for proof reading and plot inspiring.

Thank you for reading.

Trent O'Donoghue


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